Who Is Udayanraje Bhonsle, BJP's Satara Pick Against Sharad Pawar's NCP Candidate Shashikant Shinde?

New Delhi: Two days ahead of the voting for the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 16 announced the candidate for the crucial Satara Lok Sabha seat under western Maharashtra. The party has fielded Maratha royal Udayanraje Bhonsle, who is the 13th descendant of warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Bhonsle is going to contest against the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) candidate Shashikant Shinde. Earlier, Bhonsle had secured victory from the seat thrice on the NCP ticket. 

Who Is Udayanraje Bhonsle ?

Udayanraje Bhonsle is the 13th descendant of the Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Bhonsle was earlier part of the Sharadchandra Pawar's NCP and secured a three-time victory from the  Satara parliamentary constituency of Maharastra. 

After receiving a victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections as a candidate of  NCP, Bhosale resigned within a few months and joined the BJP and going to contest the current election from the BJP's ticket.

On Tuesday, the saffron party released a list of 4 candidates which included the names of other three leaders from Punjab. The party nominated Manjeet Singh Manna Miawind from Khadoor Sahib, Anita Som Parkash from Hoshiarpur SC reserved seat and Parampal Kaur Sindhu from the Bathinda parliamentary constituency.

Meanwhile, the BJP nominated Thakur Vishwadeep Singh from Firozabad and Shashank Mani Tripathi from the Deoria constituency of Uttar Pradesh. West Bengal's Abhijit Das is going to contest from the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat.