Maharashtra Elections: NCP's 1st List Of 38 Candidates Out, Ajit Pawar To Contest From Baramati

Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar being nominated from Baramati seat in Pune district. (Photo: ANI)

Maharashtra Assembly Elections: As the Maharashtra Assembly elections inch closer, political parties in contention are releasing a list of candidates for the polls. On Wednesday, Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) released its first list of 38 candidates for the November 20 polls.

As per the candidates list, Deputy Chief Minister and party head Ajit Pawar has been fielded from Baramati seat in Pune district. The party renominated 26 sitting MLAs, including ministers who sided with Ajit Pawar when he joined the ruling camp.

The NCP has also fielded sitting legislators Sulbha Khodke (Amravati) and Hiraman Khoskar (Igatpuri) who switched over from the Congress recently. Bharat Gavit, son of Congress veteran late Manikrao Gavit, has been fielded from Navapur.

Deputy Speaker of state assembly Narhari Zirwal has been fielded from Dindori and state cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal from Yeola. Former minister Rajkumar Badole, who was earlier with the BJP, has been given the ticket from Arjuni-Morgaon.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena has also released its first list of 45 candidates for the Maharashtra polls. As per the list, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is set to contest from Kopri-Panchpakhadi in Thane city and over half a dozen cabinet members from their respective seats.

The list was released late Tuesday night. The ruling party has re-nominated almost all the MLAs who backed Shinde when he led a revolt against the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022.

With this, the Shiv Sena has become the second major political party to release its list of candidates for the state assembly polls. Its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released a list of 99 candidates on Sunday. Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly will be held on November 20, and votes will be counted on November 23. Chief Minister Shinde will seek re-election from Kopri-Panchpakhadi seat in Thane city adjoining Mumbai.