Nominated by BJP, Udayanraje finally gets his way

In Satara, Udayanraje is preparing to avenge the 2019 defeat by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP undivided) Shriniwas Patil

The BJP on Tuesday nominated Udayanraje Bhosale, its Rajya Sabha member and a descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, from the Satara Lok Sabha constituency. With this, it has become clear that Ajit Pawar’s NCP has left the Satara seat for BJP, possibly in exchange for Nashik.

The BJP later nominated him to the Rajya Sabha in April 2020, and he was expected to complete his tenure in 2026. (HT PHOTO)

In Satara, Udayanraje is preparing to avenge the 2019 defeat by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP undivided) Shriniwas Patil. This time, He is pitted against NCP (SCP) candidate and MLC Shashikant Shinde.

Bhosale had won the Satara Lok Sabha seat in 2019 as a candidate of the undivided NCP but resigned within a few months and joined the BJP just before the Maharashtra Assembly polls the same year, necessitating the Lok Sabha by-election.

However, in the by-election, Bhosale lost as a BJP candidate against NCP’s Shrinivas Patil.

The BJP later nominated him to the Rajya Sabha in April 2020, and he was expected to complete his tenure in 2026.

After being nominated by the BJP, Bhosale said, “The real development is taking place because of the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has undertaken several works that have benefited people. I wish to continue to serve people through my candidature.”

Bhosale’s name as the Satara seat nominee appeared in the BJP’s fresh list of seven candidates that it released on Tuesday. With the new list, the party has so far named its candidates for around 430 seats for the polls to 543 seats starting from April 19.

Udayanaraje had been insisting on getting a Lok Sabha ticket from BJP even as in the first round of talks, NCP had staked a claim on Satara. For this, he even went to Delhi and met senior BJP leaders including Amit Shah.

After Udayanraje arrived in Satara after visiting Delhi, his supporters started canvassing.

“I had no doubts about the candidature, the media asked questions about the delay in getting the nomination and the offers coming from different parties. There is no question about moving from here and there. Every party thought that Udayanaraje should be nominated by their party, and it is natural for them to feel that way. At this point, I must mention that the Mahayuti government led by my friend Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is doing good development work,” said Udayanaraje.