Khadse lost his first election when he contested in Grampanchayat elections in Kothadi village. Later he became sarpanch of Kothadi village in 1987. In 1989, he elected as member of the Maharashtra legislative assembly for Muktainagar constituency. Khadse entered in active politics as a BJP worker in the 1980s and helped the party establish its base in north Maharashtra hailing from Leva community, Khadse had positioned himself as an OBC leader. He handled both finance and irrigation portfolios in the 1995–1999 Maharashtra state government led by the Shiv Sena–BJP alliance. Khadse served as the leader of the opposition from November 2009 to October 2014. In 2014, He was one of the names considered for the post of Chief Minister of Maharashtra, but Devendra Fadanvis was ultimately chosen for the post. On 3 June 2016, Khadse resigned as Revenue Minister following allegations of corruption and misuse of office. For 2019 Maharashtra assembly polls, BJP dropped Eknath Khdase's name from candidate's list. Khadse blamed internal party politics, specifically Devendra Fadnavis and Girish Mahajan, for denial of a ticket. Instead the party offered ticket to his daughter Rohini Khadse-Khevalkar. She lost a closely contested election by 1987 votes against Shiv sena's Chandrakant Nimba Patil.
Controversies
Khadse was involved in controversies even before 2016 corruption charges. He first courted controversy when he advised farmers to pay their electricity bills instead of splurging money on cellphones. TV news channels and print media criticized him for wastage 10,000 lit. of water for the creation of temporary helipad in his tour of drought suffering Latur that time.
Accusations of nepotism
Khadse's tendencies to forward the interests of his kin did not go down well with the rank and file of his party . Many members harboured resentment over how he promoted his family members to important posts in Jalgaon. His daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse is an MP from Jalgaon, while his daughter Rohini Khewalkar was made director of the district cooperative bank and wife Mandakini became the director of Mahanand, the state milk cooperative federation.
Corruption charges and resignation
Khadse resigned on 3 June 2016 after allegations of impropriety surfaced against him in a land deal in Pune. Realtor Hemant Gavande leveled charges of land grabbing against him, alleging that Khadse had misused his position as the State Revenue Minister to illegally execute sales deeds for a industrial plot at Bhosari in Pune District in the names of his wife and son-in-law. Khadse has denied the allegations and termed them as a conspiracy against him hatched by political rivals. In May 2018, Khadse claimed a clean chit from the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Maharashtra Police, saying the ACB wasn't able to prove the allegations.
Positions held
Sarpanch of Kothadi.
Member of Maharashtra legislative assembly for Muktainagar.
