Royal family member Ghatge likely to join NCP (SP)

Mumbai: Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge, a descendent of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, is likely to join the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP). Currently in the BJP, he is known to be a close aide of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and an arch rival of state medical education minister and NCP leader Hasan Mushrif, who represents the Kagal assembly constituency in Kolhapur district.
“I have called a meeting of my people on August 23 to discuss the next step. I will announce the same after deliberations,” he told Hindustan Times. The BJP leader is likely to be fielded from Kagal if he joins the NCP (SP), said sources.
Speculations about Ghatge jumping ship gained traction on Wednesday, after he posted a 1.30-minute video on his social media channels, in which he spoke about imminent changes. “With the people…support of our people…Let’s go. Let’s make a change,” he said in a post on X.
Ghatge had contested the 2019 assembly election from Kagal as an independent and lost to Mushrif by 28,133 votes. He was keen to contest from the same seat this time too. But since the NCP is part of the ruling coalition and its leader Mushrif is a five-term MLA from the seat, the chances of him being fielded by the Mahayuti are slim.
The BJP is trying to stop Ghatge from leaving the party, said sources. “The state leadership has conveyed to him that it would be difficult for them to get the seat from NCP. It has also offered him an MLC seat but for now Ghatge is not keen on it,” said a party leader.
When asked, BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Dhananjay Mahadik, who hails from Kolhapur, did not deny speculations about Ghatge’s exit.
“He was working in the constituency for years. With the NCP’s entry in Mahayuti, he must have realised the changed equations,” said Mahadik. “He may have taken the decision [to join NCP (SP)] considering the problem in contesting the elections from the seat as a BJP candidate.”
Mahadik said he would try to convince him about a rethink. “I already had a conversation with (Devendra) Fadnavis saheb in this regard,” he said.
A chartered accountant by profession, Ghatge is chairman of the Shahu group that runs the Shri Shahu Cooperative Sugar Factory, Raje Vikramsinh Ghatge Co-operative Bank, and Shahu milk among other businesses.