The revenue minister, however, said that people around ministers are not necessarily corrupt.
The revenue minister, however, said that people around ministers are not necessarily corrupt.
Revenue minister Eknath Khadse, who was dragged into controversy after one of his old associates Gajanan Patil was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) last week over charges of demanding a bribe of Rs 30 crore, met the state party chief Raosaheb Danve at the state party headquarters on Tuesday.
The closed-door meeting between the two leaders lasted for over 40 minutes. Both the leaders, however, declined to divulge any details of the discussion.
“The state working president of the federation of Mali community organisation Anil Mahajan joined the party on Tuesday. Since Mr Mahajan is from Jalgaon, and Mr Khadse too hails from there so I had invited him for the function as well,” Mr Danve said after the meeting. Mr Khadse on the other hand, said that he is a disciplined party worker who came to the party office on being invitated by the state party president.
Both the leaders dodged questions regarding the raging controversy around the ACB action. Earlier, during informal discussions, Mr Danve shared his experiences regarding how people try to corrupt those who work around ministers.
“When I was a Union minister, one day I found that someone had sponsored my cook’s air travel. After pursuing the matter we realised that the person who paid for trip wanted to keep a tab on my movements,” Mr Danve said.
“People around ministers are not necessarily corrupt. But, often several people are out there to corrupt people around us. We have to be very carefully about our work,” he added.
It is being speculated in the political circles that the factionalism in BJP has ignited the controversy around Mr Khadse and a few of his Cabinet colleagues are fanning it. Mr Danve, however, categorically denied any such possibilities.
