Kolhapur, Sep 3 (IANS): Jolting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a royal descendant Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge of Kolhapur joined the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) led by Sharad Pawar, here on Tuesday.
A former close confidante of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Ghatge is likely to be rewarded with a ticket from the Kagal assembly seat for the upcoming state elections. Kagal is presently represented by a former Sharad Pawar faithful, Hasan Mushrif - who switched over to the Nationalist Congress Party led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in July 2023.
According to a party leader here, Sharad Pawar will make the formal announcement at a rally here to be addressed by him and Raje Ghatge, shortly. Welcoming the development, NCP (SP) Working President Supriya Sule smiled and described Ghatge as “a diamond, and we know its value”.
On his part, an excited Ghatge (41) announced on X: “New Leap, New Challenges” and called upon his followers to witness his cross-over to the NCP (SP) at the historic rally in Kagal today.
“Ghatge’s father, the late Vikramsinh Ghatge was a two-time MLA from Kagal, and the royal descendants of the revered Chhatrapati Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj command huge influence among the local population. This morning, Sharad Pawar visited the Ghatge residence for a breakfast meeting and interacted with Ghatge and his uncle, Shrimant Raje Pravinsinh Ghatge.
“We discussed various things during this meeting. We have decided to work under the guidance of Pawar Saheb. He is our new ‘vastad’ (Guru) in politics,” said a beaming Ghatge later.
In 2019, Ghatge contested the Kagal seat as an Independent but lost to Mushrif, and in 2024, the constituency is expected to go in the NCP’s quota, so he quit the BJP to join the NCP (SP).
A Chartered Accountant by profession, he is the Chairman of the Shree Chhatrapati Shahu Cooperative Sugar Factory, the Shree Chhatrapati Shahu Milk & Agro Products Co., besides heading/controlling several institutions in Kolhapur.
Among the prominent members of the Ghatge clan are the Bollywood figures, Vijayendra Ghatge (“Chitchor” film) and national hockey player and actress Sagarika Ghatge-Khan (“Chak De India” fame).
Sharad Pawar is currently on a 3-day tour of Kolhapur where he met the Ghatge family and several other local leaders or poll aspirants, besides local leaders of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance.