Maharashtra Assembly Polls: Ajit Pawar's NCP Releases 4th List Of Two Candidates

Mumbai: Ajit Pawar's NCP released its fourth list of candidates on Tuesday, containing two names for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election. The list includes the names of Devendra Bhuyar and Shankar Mandekar. The party has fielded Bhuyar from Morshi Constituency in Solapur district while Mandekar fielded from Bhor in Pune. Meanwhile, the filing of nomination papers for candidates in the election will end Tuesday. Voting for all 288 seats will be held on 20th November in a single phase.

The counting of votes will be taken up on November 23. A total of 4,426 nomination papers of 3,259 candidates have been filed till October 28 for the elections in 288 constituencies of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the Chief Election Officer's office said The Model Code of Conduct for the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly General Election came into force on October 15. The notification for election was issued on 22 October 2024.

Meanwhile, the Congress on Monday, announced a combined list of six candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The party announced four candidates for Maharashtra and two candidates for Jharkhand. In Maharashtra, the Congress has announced Madhurimaraje Malojiraje Chhatrapati from Kolhapur North, Sajid Khan Mannan Khan from Akola West, Heera Devasi from Colaba, and Chetan Narote from Solapur City Central.

With this, the Congress has so far announced candidates for 102 of 288 Assembly seats. Congress is a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar's NCP. The MVA alliance has declared candidates for 268 seats so far. Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) have fielded their candidates on 84 and 82 seats, respectively. The Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set for November 23.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42. Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Shaina NC joined NDA partner Shiv Sena on Monday, hours after the party fielded her from the Mumbadevi constituency. Shaina NC joined Shiv Sena in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, just weeks ahead of the assembly elections in the state.

Earlier on Monday, Shiv Sena released the list of 15 candidates for the assembly polls, in which Shaina NC was fielded from Mumbadevi constituency. The Mumbadevi constituency is a part of the Mumbai Lok Sabha seat and has been represented by Congress' Amin Patel since 2009. Earlier, there were reports that the BJP could field Shaina NC from the Worli constituency. However, Shiv Sena fielded Milind Deora from the seat as Mahayuti candidate. The Worli constituency will see a high-profile contest between Deora and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray.