Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said a decision on reinducting NCP (SP) leader Eknath Khadse into the BJP will be taken by the party's central leadership after the ongoing Ganesh festival.
He also said that farmers will hugely benefit from the Centre's decision to increase the customs duty on crude and refined sunflower and soybean oils.
Talking to reporters at the Nagpur airport while answering a query on Khadse's possible return to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Fadnavis said, "Whatever decision the BJP's central leadership takes will be accepted.". We will sit down with the party leadership and a decision will be made after the ongoing Ganesh festival. Speculation about Khadse, former BJP leader who is currently with Sharad Pawar led NCP, returning to the saffron party intensified with the BJP re-nominating his daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse as Lok Sabha candidate, and making her a Union Minister of State after her victory.
But so far, there has been no word about reinduction by BJP despite Khadse showing eagerness earlier this year.
Talking to a regional news channel earlier this week, Khadse said, "I was not keen on returning to the BJP fold, but senior leaders of the party insisted on it". When I met BJP president J P Nadda, he felicitated me with a scarf and declared that I had become part of the BJP. Khadse joined the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in October 2020 after quitting the BJP. He had then accused Fadnavis of trying to destroy his political career.
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis welcomed the hike in basic customs duty on the crude and refined sunflower and soybean oils. The government Friday increased the basic customs duty on crude palm, soybean and sunflower seed oil from nil to 20 per cent, and the basic customs duty on refined palm, soybean and sunflower oil from 12.5 per cent to 32.5 per cent.
It also reduced the duty on onion export to 20 per cent from 40 per cent, in place since May 4.
"The Modi government has taken very important decisions so that farmers get good price for their produce. Farmers will hugely benefit from these moves," he said.
"Earlier, a crisis had emerged on the issue of onions. But the government's decision to cut export duty on onion will go a long way in proving to be hugely beneficial to the growers of this crop. All these decisions will benefit soybean, onion and Basmati rice farmers and it will indirectly benefit cotton growers as well," he said.
Hailing the renaming of Port Blair as Sri Vijaya Puram, Fadnavis said the symbols of slavery should be removed. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday announced that Port Blair, the capital city of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has been renamed Sri Vijaya Puram.
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