Lok Sabha elections 2024: Candidate lists released for the first two phases

Over 300 candidates will be vying for 48 seats in the initial two phases of the seven phases

The Election Commission has finalised the candidate list for the first two phases of Lok Sabha elections polling which begins tomorrow. The general elections in Maharashtra will be held in five phases between April 19 and May 20 to elect 48 members of the 18th Lok Sabha. The five phases of 48 seats include April 19 (5 seats), April 26 (8 seats), May 7 (11 seats), May 13 (11 seats) and May 20 (13 seats). The candidate list for the first two phases (April 19 and 26) has now been finalised. While the first list includes five seats of Ramtek, Nagpur, Bhandara-Gondia, Gadchiroli-Chimur and Chandrapur, the second phase includes eight seats of Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Yavatmal-Washim, Hingoli, Nanded and Parbhani.

First phase
In the first phase, elections today (April 19), a total of 97 candidates are in the ring, and among the five seats in Maharashtra, Ramtek has the highest, that is 28 candidates alone, followed by 26 in Nagpur, 18 in Bhandara-Gondia, 10 in Gadchiroli-Chimur and 15 in Chandrapur. Of the 28 candidates in Ramtek, 12 are independent and the rest belong to some party. While the Mahayuti that is the Shinde-led Sena and the BJP has Raju Parve as the candidate, the Maha Vikas Aghadi, a coalition of Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, NCP (SP), and a few more parties, has Shamkumar (Bablu) Daulat Barve (Congress) as the candidate followed by other smaller parties. There are only two women- Manjusha Sachin Gaikwad from the Akhil Bharatiya Parivar Party and Roshni Atul Gajbhiye from the Gondwana Ganatantra Party.

Second phase
In the second phase, elections for which are on Friday, April 26, a total of 204 candidates are in the ring, and among the eight seats in Maharashtra, Amravati has the highest, that is 37 candidates, followed by 34 in Parbhani, 33 in Hingoli, 24 in Wardha, 21 in Buldhana, 23 in Nanded, 17 in Yavatmal-Washim and 15 in Akola. Of the 37 candidates in Amravati, 24 are independent, and the rest belong to some party. While the Mahayuti and the BJP have Navneet Ravi Rana as its candidate, the Maha Vikas Aghadi, a coalition of Uddhav Sena, Congress, NCP, and a few more parties, has Balwant Baswant Wankhade (Congress) as the candidate, followed by other smaller parties. Of the 37, there are six female candidates.

97
No of candidates in the first phase

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