Two descendants of Chhatrapati Shivaji gear up for electoral battle in third phase in western Maharashtra

Descendants of Maratha warrior king Shivaji, Shahu Chhatrapati and Udayanraje Bhosale, contest Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra.

Two descendants of Maratha warrior king Shivaji — Shahu Chhatrapati and Udayanraje Bhosale — are contesting the Lok Sabha election from separate seats in western Maharashtra representing rival political fronts, the Maha Vikas Aghadi and the Mahayuti, respectively.

While Mr. Chhatrapati is making his electoral debut on a Congress ticket from Kolhapur and will take on the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s sitting MP Sanjay Mandlik, Mr. Bhosale is contesting from Satara on a BJP ticket and pitted against NCP (SP) candidate Shashikant Shinde. Both seats go to polls in the third phase on May 7.

Mr. Bhosale, who is currently a Rajya Sabha MP, had won the Satara seat in 2019 as a candidate of the undivided NCP, but resigned within a few months and joined the BJP. However, in the subsequent byelection, he lost to the NCP’s Shriniwas Patil.

‘Respect for all religions’

The BJP candidate says he believes in ‘Sarva Dharma Sambhava (Equal respect for all religions)’ and is critical of those who use the Hindutva ideology in politics. “In politics, people now have become more self-centred. They devise ways to fill their own coffers or further their selfish motives. They create unnecessary misunderstanding and use caste as a weapon. This is totally wrong. It is creating a rift between so many religions, which has to be stopped,” he said.

According to Mr. Chhatrapati, his ancestors always inspired him to practise the Hindutva ideology with the aim of providing liberty to people and building a broad-based kingdom where people of different backgrounds, religions, and castes live together.

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