img

Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha Chunav: There is a tussle going on between all the parties in Maharashtra regarding tickets. Setting is being done regarding who will contest where on the seats. The leaders of the ruling Mahayuti (Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar) and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi i.e. MVA (Sharad Pawar-Uddhav Thackeray-Congress) are saying in public that everything is fine. We have reached an agreement but the reality is that there is still no complete consensus among any party internally.

In this connection, Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar said that the ruling alliance Mahayuti is currently in talks on 11 seats out of the 288 assembly seats in the state. Pawar also said that 10 percent of the seats his party has got will be reserved for minority candidates. He said, "I have announced the names of some candidates. Discussions are still on for 11 seats. We cannot please everyone." It is worth noting that Ajit Pawar was present in Delhi on Thursday to hold discussions with the BJP leadership.

NCP's second list
BJP has so far released the first list of 99 candidates for the Maharashtra assembly elections, while the NCP has released two lists announcing its candidates in 45 constituencies. At the same time, Shiv Sena has announced the names of 45 candidates so far. The NCP released its second list of candidates on Friday, which also includes the names of MLA Zeeshan Siddiqui and two former MPs of the BJP.

Zeeshan Siddiqui's father and NCP leader Baba Siddiqui was shot dead earlier this month. Siddiqui will contest from Bandra East, from where he won on a Congress ticket in 2019. Zeeshan had joined the NCP. Zeeshan was recently suspended from the Congress for 'cross-voting' in the Legislative Council elections. His father and senior Congress leader Baba Siddiqui joined the NCP, a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, earlier this year.

Former BJP MP Pratap Chikhlikar, who lost the Lok Sabha elections from Nanded, has been made the candidate for the Loha assembly seat. Former BJP MP Sanjay Kaka Patil has been given a ticket by the NCP. He also joined the party on Friday. Patil had lost the election from Sangli in the general elections.

Sanjay Kaka Patil will face NCP (SP) candidate Rohit Patil, son of late NCP leader R.R. Patil, in the Tasgaon-Kavathe Mahankal constituency in Sangli district. Nishikant Patil will face NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil in Islampur, while Sana Malik, daughter of former minister Nawab Malik, has been fielded from Mumbai's Anushakti Nagar.

NCP has given a ticket to Sunil Tingre from Vadgaon Sheri in Pune. Dnyaneshwar Katke has been given a ticket from Shirur. Till recently Katke was the Pune district chief of Uddhav Thackeray's party. Earlier, NCP had released the first list of 38 candidates. Elections for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly will be held on November 20 and counting of votes will take place on November 23.

--Advertisement--