Eknath Khadse resignation: Minister calls 'media trial' a cheap publicity stunt

Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse resigned on 4 June after meeting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at his residence.

He addressed a press conference after submitting his resignation.

Terming the controversies as 'cheap publicity stunt', Eknath Khadse told reporters at the press briefing: "I've been in politics for 40 years now, and I have never seen such kind of a media trial."

"Many allegations have been levelled against me in the past and I have come clean...No one has been able to give any proof till now. If anybody provides proof, I will quit politics," he added.

During the press briefing, Maharashtra BJP Chief Raosaheb Danve said, "Eknath Khadse has offered his resignation to CM on moral grounds."

One of the most senior Cabinet members in the Maharashtra government Eknath Khadse is battling with allegations of involvement in two major controversies - an illicit land deal and his mobile number appearing in the call records of most-wanted fugitive Mumbai gangster Dawood Ibrahim.