Sambhaji Chhatrapati out of RS poll race: Sanjay Raut meets Kolhapur royal family scion

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday called on Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj head of the erstwhile royal family of Kolhapur in Maharashtra whose son Sambhaji Chhatrapati recently withdrew from the Rajya Sabha poll raceThe meeting comes a day after the 74yearold royal family scion told reporters that before pulling out of the June 10 Rajya Sabha election and announcing a new political outfit his son had met former state chief minister Devendra FadnavisIf he wanted to be an independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha he should have met all leaders of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi MVAcomprising the Shiv Sena NCP and Congress in Maharashtra and if he was sure of his win he shouldnt have announced a new political outfit Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj saidThe Shiv Sena had offered support to Sambhaji Chhatrapati a descendant of Shivaji Maharaj and prominent Maratha leader if he joined the partyAfter he declined the Shiv Sena announced its second candidate Sanjay Pawar for the Rajya Sabha poll for the sixth seat from MaharashtraThe Senas other candidate is Sanjay Raut whose Rajya Sabha term ends in July this yearElections to six Rajya Sabha seats from the state are scheduled on June 10Talking to reporters in Kolhapur on Sunday Raut said since he was in Kolhapur Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray told him to call on Shahu Chhatrapati MaharajCM Thackeray spoke to Shahu Maharaj on phone and said he would soon meet him in Kolhapur My meeting was personal and no politics was discussed Raut saidMeanwhile BJP leader Fadnavis told reporters in Nagpur that even before Sambhaji Chhatrapatis courtesy meeting with him the latter had announced that he would contest the Rajya Sabha poll independentlyHe was expecting that all parties would support him as an independent candidate like the BJP did the last time when he was nominated from the Presidents quota in 2016 Fadnavis saidI had then told him that if other parties support him then I Fadnavis would speak to the BJP high command on extending support to him for the Rajya Sabha poll he saidBut some people in western Maharashtra do not want Sambhaji Chhatrapatis leadership to grow Fadnavis claimed without taking any nameIt seems some people made a script and gave misleading information to Shahu Maharaj and those people are now projecting Sambhaji Chhatrapati as a liar the BJP leader claimedOn the other hand they are also trying to project that there is a difference between Maharaj and Yuvraj he saidI certainly feel that Sambhajiraje Chhatrapatis leadership is growing in Maharashtra for last six years The Marathas and Bahujan community feel closer to himWhen such a leadership is growing that too in western Maharashtra some people whom I dont want to name do not like it and consider him as a challenge to them Fadnavis saidFadnavis further said that those who understand politics will very well know who does not want Sambhaji Chhatrapatis leadership to growThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever