#EknathKhadse Maharashtra Revenue Minister steps down; CM Devendra  Fadnavis accepts resignation

#Nagpur : Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse, the de facto No.2 in the Maharashtra government, today resigned from his post after getting embroiled in multiple controversies, including graft allegations in a questionable land deal and alleged links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Earlier this morning, Eknath Khadse, 63, met CM Devendra Fadnavis at latter’s residence and submitted his resignation.

Fadnavis took to micro-blogging website Twitter to confirm that he has received and accepted Revenue Minister’s resignation.

Received the resignation from Shri @EknathKhadseBJP ji.
I’ve accepted it and sent it to Hon’ble Governor.

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— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis)
.@EknathKhadse ji has demanded an inquiry into allegations against him.A retired HighCourt Judge will be appointed to conduct inquiry.
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— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) June 4, 2016
BJP state president Raosaheb Danve told the media that Khadse has quit on “moral grounds” but the party stood solidly behind him.

Danve lauded the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from north Maharashtra for building up the party in the state for the past four decades.

On his part, Eknath  Khadse defended himself saying he had “committed no wrong” nor “misused his official position”. He said he was a victim of “trial by the media” in the past few weeks.

“I have done nothing wrong…when the allegations were made against me, I asked them (those levelling the charges) to provide evidence, which they did not give. I request the chief minister to conduct a thorough probe into the allegations and those making them,” Eknath  Khadse said.

Hitting out at his detractors within and outside the party, Khadse said this was “an attack on the BJP”.

The fast-paced developments happened a day after Fadnavis met BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi and submitted a detailed report on the issues confronting Khadse.

Fadnavis later followed it up with a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprised him of the row that was denting the BJP’s “clean image” in the state.

Khadse had been under fire for the past few weeks from the ruling alliance partner Shiv Sena, as also the opposition Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, the Aam Aadmi Party AAP activist Anjali Damania’s and activists for various alleged acts of commission and omission.

Among the major accusations hurled at Khadse was allotting a prime industrial plot in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) complex in Pune at a throwaway price and an allegation by an “ethical hacker” that his name figured on the regular call lists of absconding mafia don Dawood Ibrahim from his Karachi home.

The other charges against the minister related to an aide, Gajanan Patil, demanding a bribe of Rs 30 crore in connection with a land proposal file in Kalyan, Thane.

Former AAP activist Anjali Damania’s allegations linked him to the multi-crore rupee irrigation scam. The latest were graft charges levelled by a fishermen’s society. By Agencies,