New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse will join the Nationalist Congress Party on Friday, Maharashtra minister and state party chief Jayant Patil said on Wednesday.“He (Khadse) will join NCP at 2 pm on Friday…this will strengthen the NCP,” Patil told reporters in Mumbai.Khadse quit the Bharatiya Janata Party at noon today, October 21, and announced as much on Twitter.आज बुधवार, दिनांक २१ ऑक्टोबर २०२० रोजी मी भारतीय जनता पक्षाच्या प्राथमिक सदस्यत्वाचा राजीनामा दिला आहे. @BJP4Maharashtra @ChDadaPatil @NCPspeaks @Jayant_R_Patil— Eknath Khadse (@EknathGKhadse) October 21, 2020Khadse was at one point a contender for the chief minister’s position and second only to Devendra Fadnavis in the Maharashtra BJP.A prominent OBC leader, he has been reportedly unhappy since he was made to resign as revenue minister in the BJP government of 2016 after allegations of misusing power to purchase a piece of land in the Pune MIDC area surfaced.While he was denied a ticket in the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, his daughter Rohini Khadse-Khewalkar was given one. She lost by more than 3,000 votes in the Muktainagar constituency.There were speculations in the last few days that he may quit the BJP and join the Sharad Pawar-led party.A day before Patil’s announcement, on Tuesday, former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had sought to play down the rumours by saying that “talk of such an auspicious time [when Khadse might make the move] is on everyday, I will not speak on it.”On Monday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had said Khadse was earlier the leader of opposition and had played a huge role in building the BJP in the state.“He would criticise us and we would take note of it,” Pawar had said.“One is bound to feel disturbed if his contributions and hard work are not taken note of. He may think why shouldn’t he shift to a party which appreciates his work,” the NCP leader had said.Khadse had earlier spoken on behalf of Pawar and against his party in the Rs 25,000 Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB) scam case.