NCP lays red carpet as Eknath Khadse joins Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar on Friday formally inducted Eknath Khadse and many other, who recently resigned from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Eknath Khadse, his daughter Rohini Khadse-Khevalkar and number of party workers at various levels from Jalgaon district were cheered as he joined NCP.

During the event, state NCP President Jayant Patil said that it was ‘unfortunate’ that leader like Eknath Khadse was disgraced by the BJP on trumped up charges despite his hard work for the development of the party.

“I have struggled for my entire life. I have sacrificed my 40 years for the BJP, but now I will work for NCP with full strength,” Khadse said in his address as the senior leader joined NCP in the presence of senior leaders of the party in Mumbai.

In a big jolt ahead of the Bihar elections, Eknath Khadse on Wednesday quit the BJP, holding former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis responsible for his decision. "My family and I have been humiliated for years. I had worked hard to build up and betterment of the party in the state for as many as 40 years and this is what I had to undergo," Khadse told media on Wednesday.

Beginning his political career in the 1970s, the 68-year-old was elected the Sarpanch of Kothali village in 1987. Later he was elected as a legislator for six times from 1989 till 2019 from his home town Muktainagar in Jalgaon district.

In the Shiv Sena-BJP government (1995-1999), he was appointed as a minister. Later he was also appointed as the Leader of Opposition before being outcast for the post of Chief Minister when the BJP-Sena regime took charge in 2014.