Khadse – whose continuance in office had become untenable after the BJP’s central leadership took serious cognizance of a report submitted by the Chief Minister – drove to Fadnavis’ official residence “Varsha” and offered to put in his papers.
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The other charges against the minister related to an aide, Gajanan Patil, demanding a bribe of Rs 30 crore in connection with a land proposal file in Kalyan, Thane.
Following this, Mr Fadnavis announced an inquiry by a retired high court judge into the allegations against Mr Khadse, as sought by the senior leader himself.
“After I revealed the details of sale deed regarding the MIDC land in Bhosari, I presumed that MIDC will take necessary action and will approach police, however they did not do anything, prompting me to approach police to lodge a complaint”, said Gavande. He is also a senior politician from the other backward classes (OBC) in Maharashtra which is a politically sensitive constituency for the BJP.
As per the reports, the party also indicated that the row over allegations that he received phone calls from underworld don Dawood Ibrahim too was not handled responsibly.
“Why is the PM not investigating Eknath Khadse?” asked Congress leader Sushmita Dev.
Sources say Fadnavis thinks Khadse’s land transaction was as politically damaging for his government as the Adarsh scam was for then chief minister Ashok Chavan in 2010.
Water resources minister Girish Mahajan – who, like Khadse, hails from north Maharashtra – is also a strong contender for the No 2 spot. And seated right next to him was the BJP Maharashtra president Raosaheb Danve who declared that Khadse had done nothing wrong and “the allegations were all a part of the conspiracy to malign the party’s image”.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis accepted his resignation after their meeting at his residence on Saturday morning.
After Narayan Rane alleged that Khadse was made a victim because he is a Bahujan or a non-Brahmin, many seem to have believed in it.
Khadse blamed the media.
Fadnavis’ statement meant trouble for Khadse, who holds the revenue portfolio in the government.
Along with the Congress, and the Aam Aadmi Party, BJP-ally Shiv Sena had also been mounting pressure for Khadse’s resignation. He added that, “Eknath Khadse ji had demanded an enquiry into allegations against him”.
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“The arrogance of boldly breaking the alliance with Shiv Sena was always visible on his (Khadse’s) face till the very end”.
