BJP MLA threatens to quit if Gadkari is not made Maharashtra CM
Amid talk that the BJP has decided to make state chief Devendra Fadnavis the next chief minister, two-time MLA from Nagpur East, Krishna Khopde, said he will quit and vacate his seat to pave the way for Gadkari.
A BJP legislator in Maharashtra on Wednesday threatened to resign if his mentor and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is not made the state chief minister.
Amid talk that the BJP has decided to make state chief Devendra Fadnavis the next chief minister, two-time MLA from Nagpur East, Krishna Khopde, said he will quit and vacate his seat to pave the way for Gadkari.
In the October 15 elections, Khopde, also the president of Nagpur city unit of BJP, defeated advocate Abhijit Wanjari of the Congress by over 40,000 votes. In 2009, Khopde was a giant killer when he defeated Congress stalwart and then then Textiles Minister Satish Chaturvedi by over 38,000 votes.
After Gadkari on Tuesday flexed his muscles by meeting nearly 40 newly-elected BJP MLAs in Nagpur, highly-placed sources in the BJP on Wednesday told India Today that Fadnavis remains the front-runner for the chief minister's post.
Calling Gadkari's meeting with the MLAs as only a "sideshow", the sources said the party is not going to change a decision it made after it emerged as the single largest party with 123 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.
Although Gadkari has officially denied any chief ministerial ambitions, his meeting with the BJP MLAs was being seen as the former BJP president throwing his hat into the Maharashtra ring.
"I have already clarified my stand not to return to state politics. Its for the party's central leadership to decide and
I will accept any responsibility given to me," said the former chief of the BJP.
Both Fadnavis and Gadkari are from Nagpur and both enjoy the confidence of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Fadnavis emerged as the frontrunner for the chief minister's post after overcoming possible challenges from other party veterans like Eknath Khadse and Vinod Tawde. But now he may have to deal with Gadkari's potential challenge as well.
On Tuesday, enior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar also pitched for Gadkari as the next chief minister. "State BJP leaders feel that Nitin Gadkariji should come back to the state politics and take up the position of the CM of Maharashtra. He has a lot of administrative experience behind him which makes him an ideal candidate," Mungantiwar had said.