NCP leader Eknath Khadse on Friday said the present political situation in Maharashtra would not have arisen had a few BJP leaders been sent to jail for alleged wrongdoings. The state government should act as per law and on the basis of facts, added Khadse, a former BJP leader himself.

The former state minister was speaking at an event in Jalgaon in the presence of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar.

“I had asked Walse-Patil saheb (Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse-Patil) many times to teach them (BJP leaders) a lesson. They are involved in hundreds of cases. This situation would not have arisen had two or four (BJP leaders) been put in jail,” Khadse said.

Though he did not explain what he meant by “this situation”, he was apparently referring to the action taken by central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI against leaders of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state.

“Act on what is true. Don’t harass anyone. Don’t engage in politics of hatred. But make them suffer for what they have done…This is people’s will,” Khadse further said.

He also expressed surprise over central agencies conducting “hundreds of raids” at properties of fellow NCP leader and former state home minister Anil Deshmukh, arrested in an alleged corruption case.

Khadse, who himself has faced ED inquiry in a Pune land deal case, also accused his former party of defaming the MVA government — a coalition of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congreess — for no reason.