Overview
- Raje Samarjeetsinh Ghatge rejoined the BJP in Mumbai, where state president Ravindra Chavan welcomed him alongside senior minister Chandrakant Patil.
- He had quit before the 2024 assembly election after the Kagal seat went to the NCP, then lost that race to six-term MLA Hasan Mushrif, now the state’s medical education minister.
- Ghatge said he started the return in November by forging a local body election pact with Mushrif after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis intervened.
- BJP leaders said his entry will strengthen the party in Kolhapur and help carry its message into villages and other rural areas.
- He pledged to follow party directions under Fadnavis with a focus on development and cooperative institutions, while NCP (SP) and Congress voices dismissed the move as ticket-seeking in a region where cooperatives shape political power.