Raising all curtains over speculations, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP from Satara, Udayanraje Bhosale joins Bharatiya Janatha Party. Ahead of Maharastra Polls, Shivaji descendant made a huge political shift by joining the saffron party.
Shivaji descendant joins BJP
Udayanraje Bhosale formally joined the Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) in the presence of party president Amit Shah and Maharastra CM Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday. He (Bhosale) had announced on Friday that he would join BJP after he resigned as NCP MP. Before this declaration, he met NCP leader Sharad Pawar on Thursday informing him about his decision to shift.
The 53-year-old draws his political weight due to his descendants from Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji and his family. He said he agrees on the policies followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has promised to work as a BJP leader in Maharastra.
Amit Shah said it was an element of joy for his party that a descendant of the Maratha king has joined it and said that Bhosale’s presence will help BJP in the upcoming assembly elections. Bhosale flew to Delhi on Saturday along with CM Devendra Fadnavis to make the formal induction ceremony.
A big blow to NCP
The Nashik born was a minister in Maharashtra for revenue during the Sena-BJP alliance rule in between 1995 and 1999. However, since 2009 he has been elected as Member of Parliament (15th, 16th, 17th Lok Sabha) from Satara. In the latest 2019 election polls, he defeated Shiv Sena’s Narendra Patil to claim back his seat. After the development, the Shiv Sena will have to leave the seat for BJP.
Him quitting the NCP is a big blow for the 20-year-old party. Many former ministers in MP have left the party to join BJP and Shiv Sena ahead of Maharashtra polls. However, the party still believes to retain the Satara seat and win the by-elections after Bhosale’s exit.
