Eknath Khadse
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Eknath Ganpatrao Khadse (born 2 September 1952) is a politician and a leader of the
Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the List of political parties in India#State parties, state parties in India and is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra with a recognised state party statu ...
in
Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
state. He was a Member of Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra from
Muktainagar Muktainagar (formerly Edlabad) is a town in Jalgaon district, Maharashtra, India. It is the administrative headquarter of its Muktainagar taluka, eponymous taluka. It is located in North Maharashtra region. It located near bank of Purna River ...
constituency for six consecutive terms till 2019. He was a member of the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
from 1987 until his resignation in October 2020. He is a member of Legislative Council of Maharashtra.


Political career


Early years

Khadse lost his first election when he contested the Gram panchayat elections in Kothadi village. Later he became ''
sarpanch A sarpanch, gram pradhan, mukhiya, or president is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the gram sabha (village government) in India. The sarpanch, together with other elected panchay ...
'' of Kothadi village in 1984, remaining sarpanch until 1987. In 1989, he was elected as member of the Maharashtra legislative assembly (MLA) for the Muktainagar constituency. Khadse entered in active politics as a BJP worker in the 1980s and helped the party BJP establish its base in North Maharashtra. In 1990's Khadse led karsevaks during Ram Janmabhoomi movement. He was arrested at
Jhansi Jhansi ( ) is a historic city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (Toshan) Balwant Nagar was the old name of Jhansi. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand, on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme ...
by Uttarpradesh police and was jailed for a month. Hailing from the influential ''Leva Patil'' community in North Maharashtra, Khadse quickly positioned himself as an OBC leader.


State Minister (1995–1999)

In 1995, Khadse became a minister in Chief Minister
Manohar Joshi Manohar Gajanan Joshi (2 December 1937 – 23 February 2024) was an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra, who served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999, and Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2002 to 2004. He was one ...
's state cabinet. He was close to then-deputy CM and BJP leader
Gopinath Munde Gopinathrao Pandurang Munde (12 December 1949 – 3 June 2014) was an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra. He was a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and served as the Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchay ...
and handled finance and irrigation portfolios between 1995 and 1999. After Joshi's resignation as the chief minister, he took an oath as minister when Narayan Rane became Chief minister. On 13 December 2005, Eknath Khadse was suspended for six months from Maharashtra state assembly's lower house due to making derogatory remarks against the then-speaker Babasaheb Kupekar and Deputy speaker Pramod Shende in their chambers.


Opposition leader (2009–2014)

Khadse served as the leader of the opposition from November 2009 to October 2014. His successful tenure as the opposition leader led BJP to the victory in later 2014 election.


2014 elections and chief minister contention

He announced breakup of long-held Shivsena-BJP alliance before 2014 assembly election and BJP decided to contest that election alone without
Shiv Sena Shiv Sena (1966–2022) (; ; SS) was a right-wing Marathi regionalist Hindutva-based political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who was later succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray. The party is split into two parties: the Uddha ...
. He assured
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
that BJP can win this election on their own. After the strong showing in 2014 elections, Khadse was seen as the strong conteder for the role of Chief minister of Maharashtra, but
Devendra Fadnavis Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis (born 22 July 1970) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra since 5 December 2024 with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as his deputies, and previously held this positi ...
was ultimately chosen for the post. Khadse held more than dozen portfolios during the first two years including ministries of excise, revenue, and agriculture.


Resignation from ministry (2016)

On 3 June 2016, Khadse resigned as Revenue Minister following allegations of corruption and misuse of office. Since then he was allegedly sidelined by BJP and ignored by central leadership. For the 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls, BJP dropped Khadse's name from the candidate's list. Khadse blamed internal party politics, specifically
Devendra Fadnavis Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis (born 22 July 1970) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra since 5 December 2024 with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as his deputies, and previously held this positi ...
and
Girish Mahajan Girish Dattatray Mahajan is a politician from Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. He is the current MLA of Jamner taluka representing Jamner vidhan sabha constituency. He is a senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party. Girish Mahajan is cabinet m ...
, for denial of a ticket. Instead the party offered ticket to his daughter
Rohini Khadse-Khewalkar Rohini Khadse-Khewalkar is an Indian misandrist. She is a woman leader of NCP(SP) and the president of its women wing. She is the daughter of Eknath Khadse. In 2025, she controversially petitioned Indian President Droupadi Murmu Droupad ...
. She lost a closely contested election by 1987 votes against Shiv sena's
Chandrakant Nimba Patil Chandrakant Nimba Patil is a politician from Jalgaon district, Maharashtra. Political career Patil is current Member of Legislative Assembly (India), MLA from the Muktainagar (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Muktainagar Vidhan Sabha constituency a ...
.


Resignation from the BJP and joining NCP

He quit BJP in October 2020 and joined NCP.


Controversies

Khadse was involved in controversies even before 2016 corruption charges. He first courted controversy when he advised farmers to pay their electricity bills instead of splurging money on cellphones. TV news channels and print media criticized him for wastage 10,000 lit. of water for the creation of temporary helipad in his tour of drought suffering
Latur Latur (ISO: ''Lātūra''; formerly Ratnapur) is a city located in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra state of India country. Before 1982 Latur was a part of the Osmanabad district (now Dharashiv). The city is a tourist hub surrounded by many ...
that time.


Accusations of nepotism

Khadse's tendencies to forward the interests of his kin did not go down well with the rank and file of his party JP Many members harboured resentment over how he promoted his family members to important posts in Jalgaon. His daughter-in-law
Raksha Khadse Raksha Nikhil Khadse (born 13 May 1987) is a politician from Maharashtra and of the Bhartiya Janata Party. She represents the Raver Loksabha seat in the lower house of the Indian parliament and is a Minister of State in the Government of India. ...
is an MP from Raver, while his daughter Rohini Khewalkar was made director of the district cooperative bank and wife Mandakini became the director of Mahanand, the state milk cooperative federation.


Corruption charges and resignation

Khadse resigned on 3 June 2016 after allegations of impropriety surfaced against him in a land deal in
Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
. Realtor Hemant Gavande leveled charges of
land grabbing Land grabbing is the large-scale acquisition of land through buying or leasing of large pieces of land by domestic and Multinational corporation, transnational companies, governments, and individuals. While used broadly throughout history, land g ...
against him, alleging that Khadse had misused his position as the State Revenue Minister to illegally execute sales deeds for a industrial plot at
Bhosari Bhosari (IAST: Bhosarī), historically known as Bhojapur, is a suburb in the city of Pune, India. It is well known for its cultural and sports activities like Wrestling and Kabaddi. History Bhosari village has a history dating to Gautam Buddha' ...
in Pune District in the names of his wife and son-in-law. Khadse is accused of buying land at prices much lower than market price through his influence and ministry. Former Aam Aadmi Party politician and activist
Anjali Damania Anjali Anish Damania is an Indian anti-corruption activist and politician. She was the convener of Maharashtra state unit of Aam Admi Party (AAP). During 2011–12, she exposed corruption in the Kondhane dam project through RTI queries. She c ...
gone on hunger strike and demanded inquiry against Eknath Khadse. She broke her hunger strike after then-CM Devendra Fadnavis assured her that he would do a proper investigation of the Pune land deal and other corruption accusations of Khadse. She filed
public interest litigation The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). It refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and demonstrates the availability ...
against Khadse. In the retaliation Khadse filed case against her at Muktainagar accusing her maligning his image by submitting false affidavits at Bombay High court and seek her arrest. Khadse accused Damania of making false and defamatory statements against him and served defamation notice. In 2017, following orders of Bombay High Court, the state anti corruption bureau registered case against Khadse, his wife Manda Khadse, and his son-in-law Girish Choudhary. In May 2018, Khadse claimed a clean chit from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Maharashtra Police, saying the ACB wasn't able to prove the allegations. On 30 December 2020 the
Enforcement Directorate The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the Government of India. Established on 1 May 1956, it is responsible for enforcing economic laws and combating financial crimes. The ED operates under th ...
summoned him on this land deal case to interrogate and ask to provide documents. Khadse later claimed that the land at Pune was purchased by his wife Manda Khadse and he personally had nothing to do with it.


Personal life

Khadse was born in Kothadi village to Ganpat Khadse and Godavari bai Khadse in
Muktainagar Muktainagar (formerly Edlabad) is a town in Jalgaon district, Maharashtra, India. It is the administrative headquarter of its Muktainagar taluka, eponymous taluka. It is located in North Maharashtra region. It located near bank of Purna River ...
''
tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...
'' of Jalgaon district. His son, Nikhil, committed suicide on 1 May 2013. He hails from the ''Leva Patil'' community. His daughter-in-law
Raksha Khadse Raksha Nikhil Khadse (born 13 May 1987) is a politician from Maharashtra and of the Bhartiya Janata Party. She represents the Raver Loksabha seat in the lower house of the Indian parliament and is a Minister of State in the Government of India. ...
is a member of the
18th Lok Sabha The 18th Lok Sabha was formed after general elections were held in India over seven phases from 19 April to 1 June 2024, to elect all members from 543 constituencies of the Lok Sabha. The votes were counted, and the results were declared on 4 ...
from the Raver constituency, serving her third term and currently Minister of State for Youth and Sports.


Positions held

* BJP Muktainagar taluka vice president (1980–1985) * Sarpanch of Kothali (1984–1987) * Muktainagar Panchayat samiti's member (1982–1990) * BJP Jalgaon district president (1991–1995) * Maharashtra BJP general secretary (1999–2004) * Member of Maharashtra legislative assembly for Muktainagar (1989–2019) * Minister for Higher and Technical Education (June 1995 to September 1995) * Minister for Finance and Planning (September 1995 to June 1997) * Minister for Irrigation and Command Area Development (June 1997 to October 1999) * Leader of Opposition, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (November 2009 to August 2014) * Minister of Revenue, Agriculture, State Excise of Maharashtra (October 2014 to June 2016) * Member Of Maharashtra Legislative Council (2022-2028) * Ncp Party Leader - Maharashtra Legislative Council


Further reading

*


References


External links


Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khadse, Eknath 1952 births Living people Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Maharashtra Leaders of the opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Maharashtra MLAs 1990–1995 Maharashtra MLAs 1995–1999 Maharashtra MLAs 1999–2004 Maharashtra MLAs 2004–2009 Maharashtra MLAs 2009–2014 Maharashtra MLAs 2014–2019 Marathi politicians People from Jalgaon district State cabinet ministers of Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party politicians from Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party (SP) politicians