Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, the newly elected Congress MP from the Kolhapur Lok Sabha constituency, met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday at the latter's residence Matoshree in Mumbai. Thackeray's MLA son Aaditya and wife Rashmi were also present to greet Shahu Maharaj, while Congress leader Satej Patil was also present on the occasion.
During the meeting, Thackeray congratulated the descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on his resounding victory in Kolhapur. He defeated Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) candidate and sitting MP Sanjay Mandlik by a margin of 1,54,964 votes. Shahu Maharaj garnered 7,54,522 votes while Mandlik secured 5,99,558.
Last week, Shahu Maharaj met Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Delhi after 20 long years. "We spoke for few minutes. She told us that we need to play the crucial role of constructive opposition. She applauded the efforts of the party leaders for the work they had done during the elections. I had last met her 20 years ago, in 2004, when Malojiraje (Shahu Chhatrapati's son) was the Congress candidate for the Kolhapur Assembly constituency, which he had won."
Shahu Maharaj was also present while passing a resolution to make Congress MP Rahul Gandhi the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
He also met NCP chief Sharad Pawar during his visit to the national capital.
After the victory in Kolhapur, Shahu Maharaj said, "This victory belongs to the voters of Kolhapur who have posed faith in me. This is a victory of the ideology of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj."
This is after 25 long years that Congress has an MP in Kolhapur.
