Mr Khadse had been sulking since he was made to resign as minister in 2016 (File)
Terming senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse's decision to quit the party as "unfortunate", Union minister Raosaheb Danve on Wednesday said the issues he had could have been resolved with time.
Maharashtra NCP chief and state minister Jayant Patil on Wednesday said Mr Khadse will join the Sharad Pawar-led party on Friday.
Mr Khadse had been sulking since he was made to resign as minister in 2016 in the then Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government over corruption allegations.
Mr Khadse had a long career in the BJP, from holding the post of market committee chairman to minister in the state, Mr Danve told a TV channel.
"Due to some reasons, he was away from the main flow of politics, but that doesn't mean Khadse should leave the BJP. This is unfortunate," the senior BJP leader said.
"The issues with Khadse would have been resolved, but time was needed for it. There were some legal things and after clearing them, the party would have done justice with him," Mr Danve said.
He further said the party (NCP) where Mr Khadse is now going had earlier "criticised him a lot".
"Khadse has now forgotten everything and is going in the party which criticised him," he said.
Noting that Mr Khadse contributed towards building the BJP in the state, Mr Danve said, "This was a challenging time for Khadse and the party tried its best to convince him."
After this phase, the party would have taken a decision about him, but now "he should remain satisfied where he is going", he said.