Bad days are far from over for Eknath Khadse

When Eknath Khadse - the all powerful revenue minister of Maharashtra - announced his resignation over moral issues at a press conference on June 4, no one was ready to believe it because all the senior BJP leaders seated on the dais had already given him a clean chit.

Right from state BJP chief Rao Saheb Danve to every other member from the party said that they knew there was no truth in the allegations against Khadse, and that he was resigning only because the controversy had brought a bad name to the party and he wanted a proper probe so he could come out clean.

Nothing unusual about this. Even in the past, many party leaders had resigned because of sustained media campaigns and allegations made by activists, and when the media attention died down, they had got a "clean" chit in the judicial probe, as also resettlement in politics.

Will it be that simple for Eknath Khadse too? Well, that will depend on how much the BJP leadership in Maharashtra needs him. But as far as the allegations against him are concerned, it will be difficult for Khadse to emerge unscathed.

Despite this, many in the political circle feel that rather than settling for a probe under the commission of inquiry act, activists fighting against Khadse should have pushed for a court-monitored probe. But surprisingly, opposition parties and activists laid down their weapons after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted about a probe in the case by a former judge.

Two main allegations against Eknath Khadse are the alleged calls made from Dawood Ibrahim's landline in Karachi to Khadse's mobile number in the year 2015 and the purchase of a piece of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation land from a distraught owner who had approached the BJP minister because he had not received compensation for the property.

As far as the alleged calls are concerned, the probe is already with Maharashtra ATS, so it is likely that the new probe by a former judge is likely to be around his land deal.

It's a long drawn out process, the government will have to first find out which former judge is ready to handle the probe and most importantly what will be the terms of references. An India Today investigation reveals that the said three acre land in Bhosari was acquired by MIDC in 1971 by MIDC notification 32 (1).

That MIDC after diving the land into plots, leased it to 12 companies to start factories. But the agency had not finalised the compensation that was to be given to the owners of the land. Because the land acquisition didn't happen, the owner approached various departments of the government, but didn't get any relief or redress.

Finally, after filing a petition in the court, he approached revenue minister Eknath Khadse, requesting compensation. Khadse is said to have called a meeting of concerned officers and kick-started the process of compensation. However, meanwhile, he landed a deal with the owner and bought the land in the name of his wife and son-in-law.

In doing this, he became part of the team that would decide and grant the compensation to the owner as well as the party that would get the compensation.

Now it is likely that the terms of references would cover whether there was any conflict of interest while making the deal - it is on this point that Khadse is likely to be nailed.

Please remember, even during the Adarsh probe, former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan had to resign because it was established that his relatives had bought flats in the society, otherwise he could have saved himself just by revoking the permission given to the housing society .

There will be few more questions the government and the probe will need to ask. What happens to the deal now?

When MIDC's name was mentioned in the land record, how could stamp duty and registration happen and what action will be taken against the concerned officials? Most importantly, how much compensation the original owner be awarded?

The government, based on the probe report of the judge, will have to submit an action taken report. The CM will have to decide the response - now here will come the political consideration. BJP will check how far it will cost the party politically.

As far as the chief minister is concerned, Eknath Khadse is a constant sign in the Cabinet to show that his authority is not supreme in the council of ministers.

Devendra Fadnavis, junior to Eknath Khadse in state politics by almost 15 years, superseded him to get to the top post in the state. This never went down well with Eknath Khadse. Sources in the Cabinet revealed fiery exchanges took place between Khadse and the CM in the past one and half years.

On many occasions Eknath Khadse pulled up Devendra Fadnavis for not accepting his suggestions on transfers. Stories of Khadse's defiance started making rounds in the political corridors of Maharashtra, and the CM also didn't like the fact that Khadse got his wife elected as the chairman of Mahananda dairy. (Mahananda is the apex body of the state milk federation, part of the dairy development ministry held by Khadse himself).

It was said that to get his wife Mandakini elected, Khadse sought the NCP's support and in turn inquiry against corruption allegations during last government's tenure hit the dead end.

Devendra Fadanvis hands were earlier tied, but these allegations against Khadse gave him a political chance. Not only did the Maharashtra CM, but also the party leadership gauged the support to Khadse and found that there is hardly anyone who will firmly stand behind the tainted minister.

Eknath Khadse's another important USP is that belonging to the OBC himself, he had issued a statement saying that the party should choose a "bahujan" face as CM. Even after Devendra Fadnavis selection as chief minister, he didn't shy away from making the same statement time and again.

In reality, unlike Gopinath Munde, he was never the OBC face of the party. So between caste and a clean image, the BJP decided to choose the latter and let Khadse go.

Even if Eknath Khadse truly believes even today his resignation is just a stop-gap arrangement - looking at a few supporters coming out in his defence - it will not be hard for the BJP to keep him out for rest of the term.

The party is going to face a major challenge in February 2017 when 10 big corporations in the state, including Mumbai, Pune and Nasik go to polls.

The BJP's performance here will decide whether the clean image of Devendra Fadnavis helped the party.

If it does, it's unlikely that Eknath Khadse will be able to return in the capacity in which he had to leave the government.