BJP MLA meets Pawar, fuels speculation of returning to party

MUMBAI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Shivendrasinh Bhonsle recently met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar at the latter’s residence in Mumbai, fuelling speculation of him returning to the party. Bhonsle had quit NCP before the last assembly elections.

Bhonsle’s visit was related to the Satara District Central Cooperative Bank (SDCCB) election and retaining his position as its chairman. He has sought Pawar’s help for the same. Bhonsle confirmed his meeting with the NCP chief, however, he said it has nothing to do with politics, except the chairman election of the cooperative bank.

Bhonsle was among the eight sitting MLAS who left the NCP ahead of the state Assembly elections in 2019. He comes from the family of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji and is a cousin of former BJP member of Parliament (MP) Udayanraje Bhonsle, who is a direct descendant of Shivaji. His return to the party would be beneficial for the NCP and is in line with the party’s plan to recover lost ground in its bastion of the western Maharashtra region, said party insiders. There have been speculations that the MLAS and other leaders who left the party in 2019 wanted to return to NCP. However, Bhonsle has denied the allegations.

“Yes, I met him. We (NCP leaders and him) fought the recently held elections for members of the board of directors together. We don’t contest cooperative elections on party lines and also not as a party candidate. The majority of the members elected in the body come from NCP. I met Pawar saheb just to request him to get one more chance as a chairman of SDCCB, as I have been on the post for over the past six years. It had nothing to do with party politics or anything else. The objective of the meeting was limited only to the chairman election,” Bhonsle said. The election for chairman position is scheduled for December 6. According to Bhonsle, there won’t be any voting as directors of the board will unanimously elect a chairman election. The board of directors has 21 members, of them, 12 are from NCP.

A senior NCP functionary said, “Since he comes from the family of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, his re-entry will be beneficial for party in the western Maharashtra region.”