Shivaji's descendant loses Satara Lok Sabha byelection

BJP candidate Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji and two-time NCP MP from Satara in western Maharashtra, lost byelection from the constituency on Thursday.

Bhosale, who had resigned and joined the BJP before the Maharashtra Assembly polls, necessitating the Lok Sabha byelection in Satara, lost to the NCP's Shriniwas Patil by 87,717 votes.

Patil bagged 6,36,620 votes, while Bhosale got 5,48, 903 votes. Interestingly, 10,159 voters pressed the None Of the Above (NOTA) button.

Bhosale resigned as MP within months of the April 2019 general elections and stood for byelection on BJP ticket, a decision which did not go down well with the electorate.

Bhosale had cited development imperatives of his constituency as the reason for switching sides.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held a rally in Satara to campaign for Bhosale.

But in terms of optics, it was NCP chief Sharad Pawar's last rally in Satara, when it rained heavily, which trumped. The visuals of 78-year-old Pawar soaked to the bone in pelting rain but not stopping his speech went viral on social media.

Turning the bypoll into a prestige battle, Pawar persuaded his friend since college days, NCP leader and former Sikkim governor Shriniwas Patil, to jump into the fray against the royal family's scion.