New Delhi: On Wednesday, the Shiv Sena (UBT) declared its first list of 16 candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Among them, former Union ministers Anant Geete and Arvind Sawant have been nominated for the Raigad and South Mumbai constituencies, respectively. Sanjay Raut, a prominent figure within the party, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share the list of candidates for various constituencies including Raigad, Ratnagiri, Thane, Parbhani, Buldhana, Yavatmal, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Shirdi, South Mumbai, North West Mumbai, North East Mumbai, Sangli, Hingoli, Dharshiv, Nasik, and Maval.


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Additionally, the party has put forth Rajan Vichare for Thane, Amol Kirtikar for Mumbai North-West, and Sanjay Patil for Mumbai North-East. As part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition in the state under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray, the Shiv Sena is contesting the elections alongside other constituents.


Meanwhile, the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), another member of the MVA, is yet to announce its official candidates for the Lok Sabha polls scheduled for April-May in Maharashtra. 


Conversely, the Congress, also aligned with the opposition alliance at the state level, has already declared its candidates for certain seats where there are no conflicts with its coalition partners.


The UBT Sena is participating in the Maharashtra polls in collaboration with the Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar), and the Congress. These Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra are scheduled to take place across five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20. Maharashtra, boasting 48 Lok Sabha seats, stands as the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh.


In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP clinched victory in 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats. The undivided NCP, part of the opposition coalition, contested 19 seats and emerged victorious in four. Following the split within the Shiv Sena in 2022, the Eknath Shinde faction aligned itself with the BJP.