Princely polls in Satara and Kolhapur
PUNE/KOLHAPUR: One is shorttempered and outspoken. The other is reserved and reticent. They have two things in common, though: a hugely popular ancestor and a garage to die for.
The Lok Sabha elections will witness two descendants of 17th-century Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj contesting: Udayanraje Bhosale from Satara and Chhatrapati Shahu II from Kolhapur.
Shahu, 76, is the 12th descendant of Shivaji and grandson of Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu, the legendary social reformer. He is contesting on a Congress ticket against Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Mandlik, whose father Sadashiv Mandlik had defeated Shahu’s son Sambhajiraje in the 2009 polls.
In Satara, Udayanraje, the 13th descendant of Shivaji from a different lineage, is eager to win back the seat he lost in the 2019 bypolls after switching from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections. He had earlier won the Satara seat three times — 2009, 2014 and 2019 — with the undivided NCP. This time, the 58-year-old is up against NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) contestant Shashikant Shinde.
The battle is tight in both constituencies, and the royals are making every effort to connect with common people.
Musical chairs
For Udayanraje, who is popularly called “Maharaj” by locals, electoral politics and changing party affiliations are not unfamiliar territory. Since the early 1990s, the political trajectory of the Bhosale family has seen numerous shifts, often relegating ideology to a secondary role.
After facing defeat as an independent candidate in the 1989 Lok Sabha polls, Udayanraje tried his luck with the BJP. He became a minister in the Shiv SENA-BJP Maharashtra government in 1998. However, in 2001, he switched to the Congress, before joining the NCP seven years later. After successfully winning the 2009, 2014 and 2019 elections from Satara with NCP, his attempt to rejoin the BJP resulted in a loss in the bypolls. Recognising his influence in the Maratha community, the BJP nominated him for the Rajya Sabha.
Despite his royal lineage, Udayanraje has a rapport with Satara’s rural populace due to his rustic demeanour. During his campaigns, he tends to emphasise personal narratives over ideological or party-centric themes. His style of flipping the collar of his shirt has been imitated by many, including NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar. “More than 15 years ago, when a friend insisted I do something unique, I just flipped my collar, which became talk of the town,” he said.
The Satara royal has also had his share of controversies, including being accused of involvement in the 1999 murder of NCP worker Sharad Leve. The court subsequently acquitted him.
Udayanraje has declared assets worth ₹226 crore. He owns eight vehicles, including two Mercedes and an Audi. Most of them have registration numbers ending with 007. Unlike James Bond, though, he does not own an Aston Martin.
Reticent royal
In Kolhapur, the LS polls have offered locals more opportunities to see their “Maharaj”. Often seen sporting a tilak on his forehead and wearing a white kurta pyjama, Shahu is making every effort to meet people from nearby villages.
Unlike Udayanraje, Shahu is reticent and measured. He takes a long pause before answering political questions posed by reporters. That’s because, unlike Udayanraje, Shahu isn’t a politician.
“All these years, I had stayed away from active politics. This time, I accepted the offer and entered electoral politics to save democracy,” the Congress candidate said.
Unlike Udayanraje, Shahu has also largely stayed away from controversies. So much so that his opponent for the 2024 polls, Mandlik, tried to manufacture one when he claimed on April 11 that Shahu was not a real heir but an adopted one. Shahu and his family chose to ignore Mandlik’s remarks.
Shahu has declared assets worth ₹343 crore. He owns a saffron 1936 Maybach, which makes an appearance in Kolhapur every Dussehra when the royal family travels to the Mahalaxmi temple and Dasara Chowk. The vintage car, acquired in 1949, is valued at ₹5 crore. Shahu also owns a 1962 Mercedes valued at ₹20 lakh and a 2019 Mercedes worth ₹40 lakh.