NCP (SP) Suffers Setback As Ghatge Returns To BJP
BJP State President Ravindra Chavan welcomed Ghatge into the party. Speaking on this occasion, Chavan stated that the induction of Ghatge would further bolster the strength of the BJP in the Kolhapur district.
Mumbai: In a jolt to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge, a member of a royal family from Kagal, Kolhapur, rejoined the BJP on Wednesday. Ghatge was considered close to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, but had quit the BJP to contest the 2024 state assembly election on NCP (SP) ticket from Kagal. However, he lost to NCP’s Hasan Mushrif, a close aide of the then NCP national president and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.
Mushrif, who is the Medical Education Minister in the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government, is a six-time MLA. In the 2024 seat sharing, the Kagal seat went to NCP after which Ghatge quit the BJP to join Sharad Pawar’s party.
BJP State President Ravindra Chavan welcomed Ghatge into the party. Speaking on this occasion, Chavan stated that the induction of Ghatge would further bolster the strength of the BJP in the Kolhapur district. He noted that the current atmosphere is conducive to taking the BJP’s ideology to the villages and rural areas.
Ghatge said that he has resolved to abide by the party’s directives henceforth. He affirmed that he would work with full vigor to fulfill whatever responsibilities are entrusted to them by the party, thereby taking the party’s ideology to every village and every household.
“I have decided to return to the BJP to work under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis and strengthen the party in western Maharashtra. My focus will be on development and the cooperative sector. Devendra Fadnavis is like an elder brother to me,” he said.
