NCP MP 'Chhatrapati' Udayanraje Bhosle joins BJP

NCP MP and a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, Udayanraje Bhosale has formally joined BJP in the presence of Union Home Minister and party president Amit Shah, and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis in Delhi on Saturday.

Bhosale on Friday declared he is joining the ruling party and made the announcement on Twitter.

Bhosale is a descendant of Warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and was among the four NCP MPs from Maharashtra.

Sharing a graphic on the micro-blogging site, Bhosale said Union ministers Amit Shah and Nitin Gadkari, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil would also attend the Delhi event.

The development came a day after Bhosale, MP from Satara in western Maharashtra, met NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Pune on Thursday.

"I received inspiration to carry out social work based on the love and blessings of you all. Hoping the same love and blessings will be there forever with me," Bhosale tweeted.

Bhosale's cousin Shivendrasinh, who represented the Satara seat for the NCP in Maharashtra Assembly, joined the BJP on July 31.

Bhosale's decision is a jolt to the 20-year-old NCP whose many prominent leaders, including some former ministers, have quit the party to join the BJP and Shiv Sena ahead of next month's state Assembly elections.

"Bhosale will join the party on Saturday. Next day, he will attend the 'Mahajanadesh Yatra' undertaken by Fadnavis in Satara," a source close to the MP said.

The yatra is a mass outreach programme of Fadnavis ahead of the Assembly elections.