Maharashtra BJP leader's son commits suicide

Nikhil Khadse, the son of Maharashtra's BJP Opposition Leader Eknath Khadse, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head at his home in Muktainagar, Jalgaon, Wednesday afternoon, a party official said.

The shocking incident happened around 4 p.m.. He shot himself with a licensed revolver. The funeral will take place in Jalgaon on Thursday.

Nikhil Khadse was rushed by family members and others to a nearby hospital in Muktainagar, around 60 km from Jalgaon.

Despite efforts by doctors, Nikhil succumbed to bullet injuries, a party official told IANS, requesting anonymity.

The motive behind the drastic step is not known, though it is rumoured that he had been ailing for over a year.

Eknath Khadse was not at home at the time of the incident, an official of the BJP said.

Nikhil was a member of the Jalgaon Zilla Parishad, around 415 km to the north of Mumbai, and had unsuccessfully contested the 2010 Maharashtra Legislative Council elections.

Top BJP leaders and legislators, besides party workers from Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and other places who were busy campaigning for the Karnataka assembly elections of May 5, have left for Jalgaon.

Nikhil, the only son of Eknath Khadse, was an engineer, about 35 years old. He was married, and the father of two children.