MUMBAI: They proudly mention the hereditary lineage with the Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji but Udayanraje Bhosale and Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar, members of two prominent royal families in Maharashtra, do not mince their words while taking on each other.
A war of words has erupted between Bhosale, a descendent of Shivaji and Naik-Nimbalkar, a descendent of Shivaji’s first wife Saibai, since a couple of days.
Bhosale belongs to Satara branch of Shivaji’s clan. Naik-Nimbalkar belongs to Phaltan royalty, which is adjacent to Satara. Both of them are associated with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and holding important public office. However, their status has not restrained them from using abusive language against each other.
Bhosale, an MP better known for throwing tantrums at his party colleagues, fired the first salvo at at the otherwise soft spoken Naik-Nimbalkar, who has been recently elected as Chairman of the Vidhan Parishad. In a direct attack on Naik-Nimbalkar, Bhosale alleged that Phaltan was facing acute water shortage because of corruption in the water schemes.
“The water of Nira River is being diverted from Phaltan to Baramati. Ramraje should explain why he could not get water for Phaltan,” Bhosale said. The Nira River flows from Phaltan but its water irrigates farms in Baramati, the home town of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
Naik-Nimbalkar came down heavily on Bhosale. “Udayanraje knows about water only when he holds a glass of drink. He doesn’t know anything else,” Naik-Nimbalkar said in an indirect reference to Bhosale’s alcoholic habits.
The repercussions of Naik-Nimbalkar’s statement were felt in Satara. Bhosale’s supporters burnt him in effigy protesting against him. In a counter protest, Naik-Nimbalkar’s supporters too burnt Bhosale in effigy at Phaltan. It was for the first time in the state’s history that effigies of two royals were simultaneously burnt. A source in NCP said that the war of words between Bhosale and Naik-Nimbalkar has a direct link to the cold war between NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit. “Both Udayanraje and Ramraje have good equations with saheb (Pawar). Udayanraje and dada (Ajit) don’t see eye to eye. Dada was not in favour of Ramraje’s elevation as Vidhan Parishad Chairman.