Political parties have bet on members of these royal families?
Political parties seem to be dependent on former royal families for victory in the maharashtra assembly elections. Shivendraraje Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati shivaji Maharaj, is contesting on a bjp ticket from the Satara seat. He is contesting for the fifth time, his father Abhaysinghraje Bhosale was elected mla six times by winning from congress, ncp and Janata Party.
Before the 2019 assembly elections, Shivendraraje left the ncp and joined the BJP. His cousin is a lok sabha mp from the Satara seat. On the neighboring seat of Phaltan, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes, Naik Nimbalkar is working to ensure the victory of ncp mla Deepak Chavan, a member of the royal clan.
Madhurimaraje withdrew nomination in dramatic fashion
Apart from this, Madhurimaraje Chhatrapati, daughter-in-law of raja Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, was fielded by congress from Kolhapur North against Rajesh Kshirsagar of shiv sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde. Madhurimaraje withdrew her nomination on 4 November. Madhurimaraje's husband Malojiraje was an mla from Kolhapur North between 2004 and 2009. She is the daughter of former minister late Digvijay Khanvilkar.
At the same time, her son Yuvraj Sambhajiraje has his own party, he is part of the third front with other small parties and farmers' groups. He also has influence on some assembly seats. Madhurimaraje was given a ticket by the party despite the opposition of congress leader Rajesh Latkar. Due to this, Rajesh Latkar entered the fray as an independent. After Madhurimaraje's nomination was withdrawn, congress had to data-face embarrassment and they had to support independent Latkar.
Samarjit Singh Ghatge is in the fray from Kagaz seat
Samrajit Singh Ghatge, who belongs to the royal family of Kolhapur, has been fielded from Kagaz seat. He is contesting against minister Hasan Mushrif, a candidate from deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's NCP. Ghatge belongs to the family of the revered Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj.