Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Eknath Khadse on Sunday officially confirmed that he would be returning to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) within the next fortnight.
However, Mr. Khadse’s daughter, Rohini Khadse, said she would remain with the NCP (SP). Ms. Rohini was the head of the women’s wing of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP.
Once a stalwart BJP leader who was close to the late Gopinath Munde, Mr. Khadse was in the reckoning for the post of Chief Minister in Maharashtra following the BJP’s win in the 2014 Assembly election. However, he was edged out in favour of his intra-party rival Devendra Fadnavis, who served as Chief Minister (2014-19) and then took on the role of Deputy Chief Minister.