The Uddhav Thackeray group had left the Kolhapur seat for the Congress and Shahu Maharaj Chhatrapati was announced as the candidate from this seat. In a press conference held today, he thanked all the leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. He also criticized the state government for creating an unstable situation, which has been unlike the last 60 years.
"I am before you at the request of the people. Our Maharashtra, Kolhapur has a long history. Shivaji Maharaj's fight against injustice is important. Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj's work towards equality is being witnessed by us all in modern times. That's the idea people have. Phule, Shahu, and Ambedkar have influenced me, I will take the same idea forward. We are trying to accelerate development and give direction to it," Shahu Maharaj said.
He further said, "I wasn't really in politics. However, I was always at the crossroads of politics. Now maybe the public thinks, now we're at a level where I'm needed. This is the time for Maharaj to look into it, so I have stood at the insistence of the people".
"The Congress is an old party, a party of the pre-independence era. Congress has done many things, Congress has worked for 75 years and laid the foundation. Protecting our people should be about equality. Our Hindutva means that development should be given priority," Maharaj said.
"Modi has been prime minister for 10 years. His work cannot be underestimated. But the direction that the community needed was supposed to improve. It doesn't look like it's going to improve. Kolhapur has not produced a strong leadership so far. If the state's politics are to be taken in the right direction in the future, the Maha Vikas Aghadi needs to give leadership. Once I get into politics, there will be criticism, I don't want to pay attention to it." Shahu Maharaj Chhatrapati said that he wants to get the votes of those who oppose him.