An alumnus of the Shahaji Law College in Kolhapur,[3] he passed the Bar-at-law examination at Lincoln's Inn, London in 1951 following which he practised in Satara as an advocate for a decade.

In 1978, Bhosale contested and lost the Assembly election for the Nehrunagar (Vidhan Sabha constituency) in Kurla, Mumbai as a candidate of the Congress Party.

Bhosale's term as Chief Minister was however also marked by dissension within the Congress Party and allegations of corruption in the distribution of liquor distilling licences and allocation of flats in Bombay.

[9] Bhosale's cabinet had several people who went on to hold important offices later including Pratibha Patil who went on to become the President of India[4] and Vilasrao Deshmukh who became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

[10] Bhosale was the son-in-law of Tulsidas Jadhav, a freedom fighter and Rajya Sabha member who sided with Indira Gandhi when she split the Indian National Congress in 1969.