Samarjeetsinh Ghatge leaves NCP (SP), rejoins BJP

Ghatge joined the ruling party in the presence of state BJP president Ravindra Chavan and senior minister Chandrakant Patil. He had joined the NCP (SP) ahead of the 2024 assembly elections

MUMBAI: In a fresh jolt to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge, a descendent of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, along with other party leaders in Kolhapur district returned to the BJP on Wednesday. Ghatge joined the ruling party in the presence of state BJP president Ravindra Chavan and senior minister Chandrakant Patil. He had joined the NCP (SP) ahead of the 2024 assembly elections.

Samarjeetsinh Ghatge leaves NCP (SP), rejoins BJP

Ghatge on Wednesday said the process for rejoining the BJP began in November last year when he entered into an alliance with his arch-rival, NCP minister Hasan Mushrif, for the local body elections. “This was done following the intervention of CM Fadnavis, who is like an elder brother to me,” he said. Ghatge had contested from the Kagal seat in Kolhapur against Mushrif after joining the NCP (SP) but failed to defeat him. This was his second consecutive defeat against the six-term MLA.

The politician proclaimed that various “political experiments” were carried out based on suggestions received from his followers. “Now there is no scope for any new experiment. We are returning to the original party and will all follow the orders,” he said. The NCP (SP), however, said that Ghatge had joined them solely for an election ticket. “He contested, was defeated and has returned to his original party,” commented Shashikant Shinde, NCP (SP) Maharashtra president.

Ghatge’s induction into the NCP (SP) was seen as a major boost for the party in western Maharashtra, given his royal antecedents. Dismayed by the party’s performance in the last assembly and local body elections however, he decided to jump back to the BJP, and even made his intention public by removing the NCP (SP) election symbol from his social media handles.

Congress leader Satej Patil, who heads the party in Kolhapur, took a dig at the BJP “selling dreams” to lure opposition politicians. “It is selling the dream of election tickets to everyone joining them based on the delimitation process which will add 70 fresh seats to the Maharashtra assembly’s 288,” he said. “But the BJP’s train is too overcrowded at this moment.”

A chartered accountant by profession, Ghatge’s first professional venture was the Shree Chhatrapati Shahu Milk and Agro Producer Company. He is the chairman of the Shree Chhatrapati Shahu Cooperative Sugar Factory.