BJP to fete Sambhajiraje at national meet today

KOLHAPUR: The BJP has invited Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, for the national executive meeting in Allahabad on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to felicitate him during the meeting.
District guardian minister and senior BJP leader Chandrakant Patil will accompany Sambhajiraje to the meeting.
The decision to invite Sambhajiraje, a descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, for the BJP meeting is being seen as a tactical move of the party.Sources said bringing Sambhajiraje into the camp will benefit the party to tackle the Maratha reservation issue, for which, he had led protests in 2013.
Confirming the felicitation, Patil told TOI that they will leave for Allahabad from Pune on Monday morning and will return at 4 pm. "The party has decided to felicitate him at the hands of the PM," he said.
Sambhajiraje was nominated by President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday for his contribution to the movement to conserve forts and to create harmony among various social groups.
While reacting to the nomination, Sambhajiraje had avoided linking it with the BJP and declined to talk about his support to the party. He was NCP's Lok Sabha candidate in 2009, but lost the election to Sadashivrao Mandlik.
Sambhajiraje's office hesitated to comment about his invitation to the BJP meeting, while the newly-nominated leader was not reachable on phone.
On Sunday, people from Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara districts and parts of Karnataka thronged New Palace, Sambhajiraje's residence, to congratulate him. Sambhajiraje was out of city on Saturday and arrived at the Palace at 9.30am on Sunday. Hundreds of supporters were throwing gulal in the air and chanting his name.
Interestingly, all party leaders such as Congress MLA Satej Patil, NCP's MP Dhananjay Mahadik, Congress's district president P N Patil, BJP's district president Sandeep Desai and others joined the queue to congratulate him.
At 11.30am, Sambhajiraje and his supporters came to Bhavani Mandap where they offered prayers to Goddess Tuljabhavani and Mahalaxmi. He offered garland to statues of Shivaji Maharaj, Shahu Maharaj, Aaisaheb Maharaj, Rajaram Maharaj and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. After a two-hour long rally in the city, he left for Raigad.
In 2004, the Palace had seen a political win when Sambhajiraje's younger brother Malojiraje Chhatrapati won the assembly election on Congress's candidature. He lost the next election in 2009 to Shiv Sena candidate Rajesh Kshirsagar.