Udayanraje Bhosale claims BJP leadership has given him go-ahead to contest Satara seat

The list will be declared soon, it is just part of a process, Bhosale said. He said there is full support for him from all the leaders of BJP, Ajit Pawar of NCP and Eknath Shinde of Shiv Sena.

“It is done now. There is no need to say it separately,” Bhosale said on declaration of his name as BJP candidate for Satara Lok Sabha seat.

The Satara seat was earlier expected to be a straight fight between the two NCPs – the one led by Ajit Pawar and the other one led by Sharad Pawar–but both parties did not announce their candidates. Ajit Pawar-led NCP was on lookout for a candidate and had offered Bhosale to contest from the seat on its party symbol which he refused.

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP was also yet to declare its candidate for Satara and was waiting for the rival to declare its candidate. Sitting MP Shirniwas Patil reportedly had cited his old age and had been pushing his son’s name. Sharad Pawar was looking for a strong face for the seat which was won by his party in the past four elections. The senior Pawar had also said there was a demand from party workers that he himself should contest the Satara seat but he reiterated that he would never contest any election in future as announced earlier.