BJP to hold discussions with Khadse, clarifies Mungantiwar after former meets CM Thackeray

BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar has said that the party will hold discussions with Eknath Khadse as the latter met Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. A meeting of the BJP core committee, attended by former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state president Chandrakant Patil and other leaders was held in Mumbai on Tuesday amid reports that Khadse was upset with the party leaders.

'Whoever worked against the party will be expelled'

"We decided in today's meeting to hold discussions with Eknath Khadse Ji, his concerns will be addressed. Khadse Ji has submitted some evidence (alleging BJP workers worked against the party in elections), whoever has worked against the party will be expelled,' said BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar after the meeting.  He also clarified that Pankaja Munde had skipped the day's meeting after taking permission from the state party chief. "Pankaja Munde did not attend today's meeting with the permission of the state party president," he added.

The development came soon after, BJP's Eknath Khadse on Tuesday met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai. "I am not going to join Shiv Sena... I am not upset with BJP, I am just upset with two-three leaders of the BJP," Khadse said after the meeting with Thackeray. Earlier on Tuesday, Khadse had said that he has audio and video evidence against party cadres who have worked against the party during the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections. He had said that these are the leaders, who were responsible for the defeat of party candidates in the recent assembly polls.

READ | Eknath Khadse claims BJP members worked against party in Maharashtra, cites 'evidence'

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Khadse-Pawar meeting

Earlier, the BJP, who has been unhappy with the party’s leadership for quite some time, on Monday met with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar in Delhi. Reportedly, the two held a closed-door meeting for around half-an-hour at Pawar’s residence. Replying to the Khadse-Pawar meeting, NCP leader Nawab Malik said that the meeting was not political. "It was all about farmers and agrarian crisis in Maharashtra," Malik added. Khadse, who was forced to resign from Devendra Fadnavis’s cabinet in 2016 over graft allegations, has been steadily sidelined within the party ever since. He was among the few senior leaders who were denied a ticket to contest the state Assembly polls in October this year.

READ | BJP leader Eknath Khadse meets Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

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(With ANI inputs)