Mumbai, Sep 11 (IANS): Former minister and NCP-SP legislator Eknath Khadse on Tuesday said that he is not keen to rejoin the BJP as some senior leaders are against his joining the party.

“Some BJP leaders said that they will not support my entry into the party. Those who are speaking against me now were working under my leadership when I built the BJP over 40 years ago in the state,” said Khadse.

He added that all the leaders who are opposing his entry now have grown up under his leadership in the state.

“But today they are protesting for some unknown reasons. No problem. I am also not very keen to join the BJP now. Most likely, Girish Mahajan and Devendra Fadnavis also oppose my entry. Girish Mahajan has repeatedly commented against my entry into the party. The BJP must clarify who holds the command, state leaders or J.P. Nadda,” said Khadse.

Earlier, Khadse said that he had not received any formal invite to rejoin the BJP which he left in October 2020 and joined the NCP (united) under the leadership of Sharad Pawar.

“I have not joined the BJP yet. I am still in the Sharad Pawar group. I had resigned from NCP but the party president has not accepted my resignation. I never requested to join back the BJP. I was advised by the senior office bearers of the BJP that I should join back the party,” Khadse said some days back.

He said that when he visited Delhi, the BJP leaders asked him why he needed time and asked him to join the party soon.

“I met J.P. Nadda along with Vinod Tawde and Raksha Khadse. At that time, he put a muffler around my neck and said that you joined back the party. But that entry was opposed by some leaders of the state. That is why my entry into BJP was stopped,” he said.

He said that he decided to leave NCP-SP after discussing with Sharad Pawar and Jayant Patil. “But they did not accept my resignation and Sharad Pawar asked me not to resign as a member of the state Legislative council. My entry into the BJP is blocked due to two leaders. I will now remain NCP-SP and work for the party,” he said.

Khadse claimed that despite the introduction of a slew of welfare and development schemes by the MahaYuti government, the Maha Vikas Aghadi has an edge ahead of the upcoming Assembly election.

“The Maha Vikas Aghadi will come back to power following the election as there is resentment against the MahaYuti government,” said Khadse.