Royal entry …. and a peeved `exit’

Bhosle had contested last Lok Sabha election as an Independent and had secured 1.25 lakh votes in Satara, which was Y B Chavan’s turf. Though this was his first major experience in active politics, his family has a colourful political history. Uday Raje’s mother, Kalpana Raje, was close to Shiv Sena and had also contested Assembly polls on the party’s ticket. However, later on, her relations with Sena deteriorated. The family is also close to senior BJP leader Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia who is believed to have engineered the move.

“Our family has been involved in social service for generations but now it is essential for us to join the political mainstream,” Bhosle said. When asked why did he chose to join the BJP and not the Shiv Sena which identifies itself with Shivaji more strongly, Bhosale said the BJP was a national party which stood for the nationalist principles of Shivaji. He said he also had a choice of joining Congress, but the BJP was the only party with a clear agenda.

Bhosle joined the BJP along with 10 members of his panel in the Satara Municipal Council and about 1,500 supporters from various villages in the district. Satara district has two Parliamentary constituency of which one is with the Sena and the other one was retained by the Congress. Out of the total 10 Assembly constituencies in the district, the BJP had only three while the rest are divided between Congress and Shiv Sena. Asked whether the BJP was in competition with the Sena in Western Maharashtra, Munde said there was no question of competition. Bhosle wanted to join the BJP when Lal Krishna Advani’s Rath Yatra passed through the district but there was a policy decision not to induct anyone during the Yatra, Munde said.

Munde said this was just a beginning. During the month of August, there would be at least three such cases wherein influential leaders of different parties from Nashik, Latur and Sangli would be joining the BJP. Vasantdada Patil’s daughter, Vijayatai Ghogle, would be one among them, Munde added. The other prominent leaders who joined the BJP along with Bhosle were Vilas Ambekar, Charu Shila Sashe, Tarabai Bankar, Adambhia Bagwan, Mahendra Chavan, Ramesh Shanbaug and Nana Bhosle.