Atul Ashok Howale 
On November 4, Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati, the Congress’s official candidate from the Kolhapur North constituency in Maharashtra withdrew her nomination from the Maharashtra Assembly elections. As a result, Congress will not have an official candidate contesting under its party symbol in the Kolhapur North constituency.
After Raje withdrew her candidature, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and Congress extended their support to a rebel candidate Rajesh Latkar and officially endorsed him. As a result, Latkar, with the backing of the MVA, will now face Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) candidate Rajesh Kshirsagar in this constituency.
Congress’s flip flop over ticket distribution
Since the announcement of the Maharashtra assembly elections, the Kolhapur North constituency has consistently remained in the spotlight.
Initially, Latkar was declared the official candidate of the Congress party from the MVA. However, many Congress corporators opposed this decision and demanded that the party changes its candidate in the constituency.
Due to the infighting in Congress against Latkar’s candidacy, Congress district president Satej Patil requested Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati, wife of Maloji Raje Chhatrapati and a member of the erstwhile Kolhapur royal family, to contest the elections.
Babu Mistry, a resident of Kolhapur North Constituency working at a local garage. Photo: Atul Ashok Howale
Raje accepted Patil’s request and filed her nomination. However, this move upset Latkar, who decided to rebel against the party and contest as an independent candidate.
After the back and forth over the candidate in Kolhapur North constituency, Patil, the Congress’s Kolhapur district president appeared visibly angered over the whole issue.
However, he later stated that the MVA would make every effort to secure Latkar’s victory.
“The Maha Vikas Aghadi has endorsed Rajesh Latkar. We have put Madhurima Raje’s withdrawal behind us and there is no rift between Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and me. Together with all our allies who are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, we are determined to ensure Latkar’s victory from Kolhapur North,” Patil told The Wire.
Following the series of events in Kolhapur due to the confusion over the candidate of the MVA, a section of voters are also unhappy with Raje’s withdrawal. Some feel that she could have defeated Shiv Sena’s Kshirsagar.
‘Madhurima Raje should not have withdrawn her candidature’
It is being speculated that the absence of an official Congress symbol in the Kolhapur North constituency may benefit Kshirsagar.
“Madhurima Raje should not have withdrawn from the race. She belongs to the Chhatrapati family and is also the daughter of the late former minister Digvijay Khanvilkar,” said Babu Mistry, who repairs two-wheelers near the Mahalakshmi Temple in Kolhapur North.
“The people of Kolhapur feel deeply connected to Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj’s family and have great trust in them. This would have worked in her favour and boosted the Congress’s chances of winning the election. But with her withdrawal, Rajesh Kshirsagar’s position has now strengthened,” added Mistry.
After this whole incident, MP Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, who is the father-in-law of Madhurima Raje, issued a statement in which he clarified that Raje was withdrawing her nomination in the interest of Congress’s grassroots workers.
He explained that their stance has always been that there should not be two positions held by members of the same family. Therefore, it was agreed that Madhurima Raje would only contest if Rajesh Latkar withdrew, which he did not.
A few months ago, in the Lok Sabha elections, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharajwas elected as an MP from the Kolhapur constituency on a Congress ticket.
Sarjerao Satpute, a voter from Kolhapur, said that Madhurima Raje should have contested as a candidate.
“If Madhurima Raje had been a candidate, there would have been a strong competition between the two candidates. However, with Maha Vikas Aghadi endorsing independent candidate Rajesh Latkar and with MLA Satej Patil’s support, this election won’t be easy for Kshirsagar. The frequent candidate changes in this Assembly constituency could hurt the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s chances. If Madhurima Raje had contested here, the outcome might have been different,” said Satpute.
While Latkar joined the Congress party a few months ago, Kshirsagar, his opponent from the BJP-led Mahayuti has served as an MLA twice from this constituency. In the 2019 assembly elections, he was defeated by Congress’s Chandrakant Jadhav.
After the 2022 split in Shiv Sena, Kshirsagar aligned with Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and is now contesting the Kolhapur North constituency for the fourth time, this time on the Shiv Sena’s bow and arrow symbol.
With the outpouring of sympathy for Raje among the general voters of Kolhapur North, many believe that had she contested the elections from the seat, the MVA would have had a better chance of success.