CM slams Sena for celebrating Eknath Khadse's ouster

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior Shiv Sena ministers took the Jalgaon Sena unit chief to task on Tuesday, for distributing sweets and bursting fire crackers after the resignation of senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse.

During a conversation with Sena veteran Subhash Desai in the Cabinet meeting, Fadnavis expressed displeasure over the way some Shiv Sainiks celebrated Khadse's ouster. The chief minister expressed concern that it will malign the image of the coalition if people see a political party enjoying the exit of their ally's senior ministers, such as Khadse. Fadnavis reportedly referred to it as washing dirty linen in public.

After the CM's angry outburst, senior Sena ministers had an urgent half-an-hour meeting, called by industries minister Subhash Desai. Ministers Diwakar Raote, Deepak Savant and Eknath Shinde were present. None of the leaders, however, divulged what was discussed in the meeting.

Desai said, "This was a secret meeting on a sensitive topic." Shinde maintained that the meeting was about celebrating the golden jubilee of Shiv Sena. Raote skirted the question by saying that he will not tell anything about the meeting.

After this meeting, Raote had a meeting with MLA Gulabrao Patil, an arch-rival of Khadse in Jalgaon, and the Jalgaon Sena Pramukh Chandrakant Patil. Although it was not clear what was discussed in that meeting either, Patil and Raote ended up having a heated argument. Patil left Raote's cabin shouting.