Udayanraje Bhosale who ‘speaks his mind’ attends party meeting, travels with Sharad Pawar

NCP MP Udayanraje Bhosale (File)

NCP MP Udayanraje Bhosale, who is known for defying his party’s diktats, especially in his home turf Satara, travelled with party chief Sharad Pawar in the same vehicle from Pune to Satara on Wednesday triggering speculation that he has buried his differences with the NCP and the Pawars. NCP leaders said Bhosale, the 13th direct descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, attended the party’s executive committee meeting on Tuesday. His presence had raised eyebrows as he had attended a party meeting after a long time. “After the meeting, he travelled to Pune on his own on Wednesday and from there, he travelled with the party chief to Satara,” said a leader.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Mallick said: “It is true that Udyanraje attended the party meeting after a long time…” Asked if he made any suggestion during the meeting, Mallick replied in negative. Asked if Bhosale had buried his differences with the NCP, Mallick said: “There are no differences … Udayanraje keeps speaking his mind on and off. When he realises he has made a mistake, he comes around…”

Some NCP leaders, however, said Bhosale had differences with Ajit Pawar and not Sharad Pawar. In June, Bhosale was arrested and released on interim bail in a case related to threatening a businessman and extortion. His arrest had led to tension in Satara.  NCP leaders said with the case hanging on his head, the MP might be trying to rally support from his party leaders. “May be he has softened a bit after the case was registered against him and created lot of noise…,” said an NCP leader. After the 2014 general elections, a hoarding carrying pictures of Bhosale and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was put up in Satara. It congratulated Modi for winning by “majority votes.”  Bhosale had denied having put up the board. But people in Satara believe that no one else would dare to put up such a hoarding, especially with his picture, in the city without his permission.

Before the state Assembly election, he had threatened to cause tremor in the NCP if his suggestions were not implemented. His supporters say Bhosale won the elections on his merit and lineage and he made no bones about it.  In 2014, Bhosale bagged the Satara Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 3,70,000 votes despite top NCP leaders staying away from his poll campaigns. Bhosale was in the Congress and later switched to the Shiv Sena and then to the NCP and there were speculations sometime ago that he was planning to switch to the BJP.

Pawar to help cane workers

At the rally of sugarcane workers in Karad on Wednesday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said he was ready to mediate and take up demands of sugarcane workers with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Pawar’s comments came after the Sugarcane Workers’ Federation leaders criticised the state government saying “the present government does not understand the problems of sugarcane workers”.