Loss for BJP, gain for Sena in North Maharashtra

The resignation of senior leader Eknath Khadse will be a major loss of BJP and gain for Shiv Sena in the upcoming elections.Khadse had slowly, systematically and single-handedly destroyed the Congress bastion in North Maharashtra and converted it into a BJP fortress in the last 30 years. "At the same time, Sena was growing leaps and bound but Khadse contained it by exposing its leader Suresh Jain and cornering other major leaders in Jalgaon. Khadse gave strength to the party workers and even stood with them in the crisis," said Rajendra Patil, a local journalist.Raksha Khadse, BJP MP from Jalgaon and daughter-in-law of Khadse, said that the upcoming Zilla Parished polls will be a tough task for BJP.

"There are no other powerful leaders in North Maharashtra who can take on Sena and NCP. Khadse not only ended the importance of Sena but demolished the image of NCP by putting its former minister for state Gulabrao Devkar in jail in connection with the corporation related cases. Irrigation minister Girish Mahajan is also from Jalgaon and is known to be close to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. BJP may promote him as the North Maharashtra leader but he lacks the charisma and administrative experience," said a local political observer.