 "Is BJP's Eknath Khadse on his way out of Maharashtra govt?")
That impression has been strengthened as top government sources say they're unable to make contact with him. Amit Shah, national head of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has reportedly asked state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to resolve the Khadse issue "at the earliest". The BJP’s partner in the government, the Shiv Sena, has already asked that he resign. And, former Aam Aadmi Party figure Anjali Damania began a hunger strike on Thursday for an inquiry into allegations of corruption against Khadse, also seeking his ouster from the ministry.
Khadse has also been a thorn in the side of Fadnavis, as he'd felt he should have been CM of the state. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi weighed in on the side of Fadnavis.
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Khadse is currently in two major controversies, one involving a land deal and the other about his cell phone number appearing in the call records of India's most wanted gangster, Dawood Ibrahim.
"With the new facts, he is under a cloud. I am sure the party will take a decision soon," said Satyapal Singh of the BJP to news agency ANI.
In April, Khadse's wife, Mandakini, and son-in-law Girish Chaudhari bought a large lot of land on the outskirts of Pune for a little under Rs 4 crore. The land is worth at least Rs 30 crore by market value and had been acquired in the 1970s by a state company, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), which has the rights to lease but not sell the land, and to companies, not individuals.
Khadse has told his party his relatives bought the land, not he, and the earlier acquisition was never completed, which allowed its purchase from the original owner, Abbas Ukani, a 94-year-old who lives in Kolkata, and who says he was never given compensation by the government for the takeover, which means he retains all rights to it.
Khadse also notes his relatives paid stamp duty or tax on the market value and not the discounted rate of the property.
The 'whistle-blower' in the land deal is Hemant Gawande, a builder in Pune. "The laws have been violated because MIDC doesn't even know this land was purchased by a top politician and his family. MIDC told me this land is ours and no one can sell this. If it gets sold and we find out about it, we will lodge an FIR (police case) against the purchasers," he said on Thursday.
He warned that if the state corporation does not follow with action, he will go to court.
The other charge is of having been in touch with Dawood Ibrahim, according to Manish Bhangale, 27, a Gujarat-based computer hacker who has approached the Bombay High Court for protection. Bhangale has also pleaded that the state government be directed to ensure Khadse ‘is constrained from interfering’ into the probe. The petition is likely to come up on Monday.
In his petition, Bhangale says he had hacked into the authentication process of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd, in April. He claimed the intention was to help the Indian government detect and nab anti-national elements such as Dawood. The call records accessed by Bhangale apparently show a conversation between Khadse and Ibrahim of at least five minutes. The telephone number called in Karachi is registered in the name of Mehjabeen Sheikh, wife of Dawood.
“I have staked my career, my family and my own life for the sake of national security by penetrating into the Pakistan telecom system, only to be thrown to the wolves. The threats to life, apathy by police and indifference by Indian intelligence agencies have cornered me to such an extent that I am forced to repent my deed committed in the national interest,” his petition claims.