Nearly 8,000 candidates, including those from major political parties in ruling as well as opposition camps, have filed their nominations for the 288 assembly seats
The BJP is contesting in 148 assembly seats in Maharashtra, the highest among half a dozen major political parties in the ruling and opposition camps, followed by the Congress on 103 as the filing of nominations ended on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has fielded candidates on 80 seats, while Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s NCP has nominated 53 contestants for the November 20 polls to the 288-member state assembly.
Five seats were given to other Mahayuti allies while no decision was taken on two segments. In the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Congress is contesting on 103 seats followed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) on 89 and NCP (SP) on 87 seats. Six seats were given to other MVA allies, while there was no clarity on three assembly segments.
Nearly 8,000 candidates, including those from major political parties in ruling as well as opposition camps, have filed their nominations for the 288 assembly seats. As many as 7,995 candidates have filed 10,905 nominations with the Election Commission (EC) for the November 20 polls, said a statement issued by the office of the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).
Filing of nominations by candidates began on October 22 and the process ended on October 29. The verification and scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on October 30 and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is November 4 (till 3 pm).
Polling will take place on November 20 and votes will be counted three days later. The ruling Mahayuti and the opposition MVA are the main contenders for power.
Meanwhile, as many as 1,648 complaints of violation of the code of conduct were received on the C-Vigil application from October 15 to 29, out of which 1,646 have been resolved by the Election Commission, the Chief Electoral Officer’s office stated.
The C-Vigil App, which helps vigilant citizens to follow the code of conduct, can be downloaded from any app store. Through this app, citizens can register complaints of violations of the code of conduct.
After the complaint is registered, appropriate action is taken after investigation by the concerned team, it said.
Meanwhile, both the ruling Mahayuti alliance as well the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are gearing up and leaving no stone unturned for the assembly polls.
Mahayuti is the alliance of Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction). While, MVA is the coalition of Shiv Sena (UBT) (Uddhav Thackeray faction), NCP (SCP) (Sharad Pawar faction) and the Congress party.
In a major development on Tuesday, NCP fielded Nawab Malik as the candidate from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, a seat that is already with the BJP leader Kirit Somaiya
A new challenge has emerged in front of the Mahayuti alliance after the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) fielded Nawab Malik as its candidate from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, a seat that is already with the Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya pushing the case of Shiv Sena’s Suresh Krishna Patil as the ‘official’ candidate on the same seat.
Nawab Malik on Tuesday filed his nomination from the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Assembly constituency as an NCP (Ajit Pawar) candidate for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.
Notably, the seat is currently held by Samajwadi Party’s Abu Azmi, who is the party’s state chief.
After filing the nomination, Nawab Malik told ANI, “Today, I filed a nomination from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Vidhan Sabha constituency as an NCP candidate. I had filed the form as an Independent candidate also. But the party has sent the AB form and we submitted it at 2.55 pm and now I am the official candidate of NCP.”
Nawab Malik, a two-time MLA from Anushakti Nagar, had earlier announced that he would contest from the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Assembly constituency as an independent candidate after being denied a ticket by the NCP due to pressure by alliance partner BJP.
Sana Malik, daughter of Nawab Malik is contesting from the Anushakti Nagar assembly seat as an NCP candidate (Ajit Pawar).
Although NCP chief and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is locked in a direct fight against his nephew and NCP(SP) nominee Yogendra Pawar on his home turf, Baramati, he has joined hands with BJP and Shiv Sena to checkmate his another nephew and Sharad Pawar faction nominee Rohit Pawar from Karjat-Jamkhed constituency in Ahilyanagar district (erstwhile Ahmednagar).
With this, Ajit Pawar is gearing up for a fight against two nephews — Yogendra Pawar and Rohit Pawar.
NCP insiders said that while Ajit Pawar is leaving no stone unturned for his victory in Baramati, he is also making all efforts to corner Rohit Pawar, who is pitted against the BJP nominee and former Minister Ram Shinde. In Baramati, his trump card is development while in Karjat-Jamkhed, Ajit Pawar will sing BJP’s tune of a fight between an outsider Rohit Pawar and a ‘bhoomiputra (son of the soil)’ Ram Shinde.
Rohit Pawar, who hails from Baramati, was elected from Karjat-Jamkhed in the 2019 Assembly elections by defeating Ram Shinde from the same constituency. Thereafter, the BJP rehabilitated Ram Shinde and nominated him to the Maharashtra Legislative Council.