Former Maharashtra minister and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Eknath Khadse quit the party on Wednesday and is all set to join the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday. He blamed his exit on former chief minister and now opposition leader in the Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis.

Khadse has been estranged from the party since he was asked to quit the cabinet minister's office in 2016. He said he wasn't upset with the BJP, its central-state leadership, but quit only because of Fadnavis, who he said managed to seek his resignation even when no opposition party had demanded his ouster following charges of corruption. "Fadnavis also asked the Mumbai police to register a molestation case against me when an activist made false charges. When I asked him, he said that the woman was creating a ruckus and he would withdraw the case," said Khadse, who played a stellar role in making north Maharashtra a BJP stronghold. The socio-political strength Khadse wields will now shift to the NCP which has weakened its base in the region.