Thackeray misused family name, say Shivaji’s heirs

MUMBAI :Chhatrapati Shivaji’s descendants have ended years of acrimony and promised to work as a team, with the Maratha king’s 13th direct descendant criticising Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray for “misusing” the family name.

Udayanraje Bhosle also targeted NCP chief Sharad Pawar, saying, “During a visit to Satara, then prime minister Indira Gandhi had expressed the desire that the Bhosle dynasty should grow and make a bigger contribution to society, but the efforts were thwarted by the likes of late Yashwantrao Chavan and Sharad Pawar.”

At a function on Saturday at Adalatwada in western Maharashtra, Udayanraje and his cousin and NCP MLA Shivendrasinhraje Bhosle hugged each other and announced they would work as a team. “We have waited for the last 12 years for this moment,” Udayanraje said.

Political observers, however, attributed the truce to political expediency. “Going by the results of polls to municipal councils, it became clear that the cousins on their own are not in a position to gain power in Satara,” said an observer.

The objective was also aimed at preventing NCP MLA Shashikant Shinde, also from Satara district, from “encroaching on their fiefdom”, they said.