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In a big claim against Prime Minister Narendra Modi before his scheduled visit to Kolhapur to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said the former would speak against Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, a royal scion in the district and a descendant of avowed Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj is in the fray on a Congress ticket from the Kolhapur Lok Sabha constituency. A consensus candiate of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) bloc in the state, the royal scion is pitted against Sanjay Mandlik of the Shiv Sena, the consensus candidate of the BJP-led NDA in the seat. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Raut said, "While campaigning in Kolhapur, Narendra Modi-ji will speak against our candidate and Kolhapur scion Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj. The people of Maharashtra should remember him for what he says against our candidate. Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj is not only our candidate from Kolhapur but he is alo someone who is carrying forward the thoughts and ideas of his forbear, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. But Modi-ji does not like this. The people of Maharashtra will remember Modi-ji's words against our candidate." The sitting MP from Kolhapur, Mandlik won the Kolhapur seat in the 2019 general elections, contesting as the candidate of the undivided Shiv Sena. However, after Sena split into two factions, led by Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray, Mandlik decided to go with the former's. The Shinde Sena was evetually allocated the party's flag and symbol, after Shinde took oath as chief minister with the support of the BJP. Thereafter, the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) joined the ruling NDA in the state after a similar split down the middle. Meanwhile, also coming down heavily on the Centre over its decisions to allow white onions from Gujarat to be exported, Raut said, "Modi-ji is a leader of Gujarat, not of the country. We say it again and again. If the export of white onions from Gujarat could be allowed, why isn't the same courtesy isn't being extended to the traders in Maharashtra? As many as 2,000 metric tonnes of onions (from Gujarat) are being exported from the Mumbai port. Modi-ji is an enemy of our farmers," Raut said. (ANI)
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