Sambhaji Raje
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Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati (born 11 February 1971) is an Indian politician, who served as the member in the
upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...
of the
Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...
. He is heir to Kolhapur royal family as the 13th direct descendant of the Maratha king,
Chhatrapati Chhatrapati is a royal title from Sanskrit used to denote a king. The word "Chhatrapati" is a Sanskrit language compound word of '' chhatra'' ('' parasol'' or ''umbrella'') and '' pati'' (''master/lord/ruler''). This title was used by the Ho ...
Shivaji Maharaj Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...
and great-great-grandson of Rajarshi Chhatrapati
Shahu of Kolhapur Shahu (also known as Chhatrapati Rajarshi Shahu, Shahu IV, Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj) (26 June 1874 – 6 May 1922) of the Bhonsle dynasty of Marathas was a Raja (reign. 1894 – 1900) and the first Maharaja (1900–1922) of the Indian princ ...
. Low profile and soft-spoken, he was the face of Maratha protest for reservation in 2011–19. He is currently an independent politician. On 11 June 2016, he was
nominated A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...
to the
Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...
by then-
President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...
,
Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Kumar Mukherjee ( ; born, 11 December 1935 – 31 August 2020) was an Indian statesman who served as the president of India from 2012 until 2017. He was the first person from West Bengal to hold the post of President of India. In a pol ...
. On 12 May 2022, he founded Maharashtra Swarajya Party, a social organisation. In July 2024, he, along with hundreds of his supporters, staged a march to the Vishalgad Fort. Violence broke out in Gajapur village, 3 km away from the fort, where his followers vandalized and ransacked several properties belonging to Muslim families.


Personal life

He is married to Sanyogeeta Raje Bhosale.


Controversies


Vishalgad violence

On 14 July 2024, Former MP along with hundreds of his supporters staged a march to the Vishalgad Fort where he had given a public call to end encroachments, which has a historical background. After that, devotees vandalized many encroachments at Vishalgad. Also, this movement had taken a violent turn. Over a month ago, former MP Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati launched a campaign demanding an encroachment-free Vishalgad in Maharashtra. A foot march to the fort, built on a hilltop in the Sahyadri ranges, was planned well in advance. Several
right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...
groups had also given a call and joined Sambhaji Raje's clarion call of chalo Vishalgad on 14 July. Before Sambhaji Raje and his supporters reached the Vishalgad fort, violence broke out in nearby villages including Gajapur village, located around three kilometres away from the base of the fort. A mob, screaming ‘Jai Bhavani’, ‘Jai Shivaji’ and ‘ Jai Shri Ram’, entered Gajapur village and ransacked properties belonging to
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
families. Besides ransacking and damaging the physical structure of the house, the group also looted money and gold jewellery, according witness accounts. The attack went on for many hours. The men, wearing saffron gamchas and wielding axes and bamboo sticks, entered the village and ransacked only those houses that belonged to the Muslim community. One of the attackers videographed the event. Among the videos of the attack, was of a village
mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...
being attacked from both the inside and the outside. The video, showing men climbing on the mosque and trying to damage its dome had gone viral. Over 50 men had entered the mosque and damaged the structure internally. The protestors were all armed; they carried
swords A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
and axes, but were not apprehended by the police. A few policemen can be seen unsuccessfully chasing the unruly mob away. The mob allegedly also attacked a few policemen, and at least one of them suffered injuries on his shoulder following an attack with an alleged sword. Several local journalists reporting on the incident alleged that they were threatened by people who were a part of the mob with knives and sticks to stop them from reporting omn the incident. Many claimed that their equipment, mobile phones, and boom mic were snatched by miscreants while brandishing swords and knives. Some also claimed that their vehicles were chased in order to scare them into not coming to the area. Following this the Kolhapur police on Monday lodged a case against over 500 persons including former Rajya Sabha MP in connection with disruptions during the call to free historic Vishalgad fort from encroachment in Kolhapur district a day before.The police have detained 21 persons and also booked Ravindra Padwal and Banda Salokhe in connection with the vandalism and violence. The violence left 6 civilians and 12 policemen injured while houses were set on fire and around eight to ten cars and over two dozen two-wheelers were damaged by the protestors, police said. Reacting to the development, SP Pandit said, “The anti-encroachment drive is stayed in the court and no permission was given for any gathering. We have lodged a case against those who engaged in violence and ransacked a religious structure, set houses on fire, and damaged two and four-wheelers and shops. We are assessing the damage and trying to find more suspects based on social media reels and videos captured by the policemen.”


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sambhaji Raje 20th-century Indian monarchs Maharajas of Maharashtra Living people 1971 births Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra Politicians from Kolhapur Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Maharashtra