23 October,2024 09:48 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde. File Pic
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has released its first list of 45 candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections 2024 which are to be held on November 20.
According to the list, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will contest from the Kopri-Pachpakhadi Assembly constituency.
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Sada Sarvankar has been fielded from the Mahim seat against Raj Thackeray's son Amit Thackeray.
Other candidates include Manisha Ravindra Waykar from Jogeshwari (East), Suhas Dwarkanath Kande from Nandgao, Pradip Shivnarayan Jaiswal from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (middle) and Balaji Devidasrao Kalyankar from Nanded North.
The party has fielded ministers Gulabrao Patil, Deepak Kesarkar, Abdul Sattar and Shambhuraj Desai from Jalgaon Rural, Sawantwadi, Sillod and Patan, respectively.
Another cabinet member, Dada Bhuse, will contest from the Malegaon Outer assembly constituency in Nashik district.
Ministers Uday Samant and Tanaji Sawant have been fielded from Ratnagiri and Paranda, respectively.
Another prominent leader Sada Sarvankar will fight the polls from Mahim in Mumbai.
The party has also fielded kin of several leaders.
From Rajapur, it has given ticket to Kiran Samant, brother of minister Uday Samant.
Manisha Waikar, wife of Shiv Sena Lok Sabha member from Mumbai North-West Ravindra Waikar, has been fielded from Jogeshwari (East), while Abhijit Adsul, son of Sena leader and former Union minister Anand Adsul, will contest from Daryapur in Amravati district.
Vilas Bhumre, son of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) Lok Sabha member Sandipan Bhumre, will contest from Paithan.
As per the list released late Tuesday night, the ruling party has re-nominated almost all the MLAs who backed Shinde when he led a revolt against the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022.
With this, the Shiv Sena has become the second major political party to release its list of candidates for the state assembly polls. Its ally BJP released a list of 99 candidates on Sunday.
On October 18, after the recent announcement of the Maharashtra assembly elections 2024, Shiv Sena convened a meeting with its office bearers on Friday.
In the meeting, there was a strong push for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to be presented as the face for the chief ministerial position, which signals the party's strategy as it prepares for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections 2024, reported ANI.
Shiv Sena party leaders chanted slogans in support of Eknath Shinde as Chief Minister, collectively asserting that the saffron flag should continue to wave proudly, reported ANI.
Shiv Sena leader and MP Shrikant Shinde convened the meeting. Senior Shiv Sena leaders Milind Deora, Ravindra Waikar, Manisha Kayande, Rahul Shewale, and others were present, reported ANI.
This comes as Maharashtra prepares for a single-phase election on November 20, with counting set for November 23.
Both the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) -- comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress -- have intensified their preparations for the upcoming elections to 288 Assembly seats in the State. The BJP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance alongside the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena secured 56, and Congress won 44 seats. In 2014, the BJP won 122 seats, Shiv Sena secured 63, and Congress won 42 seats.
(With inputs from ANI)
