Having triggered a debate in the Maharashtra political circles about his decision to contest the forthcoming biennial Rajya Sabha (RS) polls as an Independent, Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji’s scion Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje on Friday withdrew from the RS poll fray, saying that he was doing so out of “self-respect’ and to prevent ‘horse-trading’ in the polls.
Sambhajiraje’s decision to withdraw from the RS poll fray came three days after the ruling Shiv Sena — ignoring his claims for poll nomination — had decided to nominate its Kolhapur district party chief Sanjay Pawar for the biennial RS polls scheduled for June 10. The Sena had announced Pawar’s nomination, after Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati refused to join the Sena to contest the biennial polls.
Talking to media persons, Sambhajiraje — who is the 13th direct descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji — hit out Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for “not honouring” his word to support his solo candidature and insisting that he (Sambhajiraje) should first join Shiv Sena before getting a ticket.
“For me the RS seat is not the concern… The welfare of the masses is more important for me… I will go on a statewide tour to strengthen the idea of ‘Swarajya’ now and see my strength,” Sambhajiraje said.
Sambhajiraje said that two Sena MPs had met him in a five-star hotel recently to discuss the issue and conveyed the CM’s desire that Sambhajiraje should become a Shiv Sena member and the party would immediately nominate him for RS.
“I made it clear that I wish to contest as an independent and will not join any party for the RS ticket… Now, I shall have nothing to do with the RS elections,” Sambhajiraje said.
Sambhajiraje said that he had no ‘angst or ill-will’ against any party as they all had their respective agendas to pursue and he respected their stand.