Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will join NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackerau when the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) launches its campaign for the Maharashtra Assembly polls at MMRDA grounds at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in north-central Mumbai on Wednesday evening,
At the joint MVA rally, the Congress – which is spear-heading the three party grand Opposition front – will release its guarantees to the people across the state for the Assembly polls.
Apart from Kharge, Rahul, Pawar and Uddhav, State MVA leaders like Nana Patole, Balasaheb Thorat, Vijay Waddetiwar ( all Congress), Jayant Patil of the NCP (SP) and Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena (UBT) will address.
Earlier on Wednesday, Kharge and Rahul will kick-start the Congress’ campaign at a “Samvidhan Sanman Sabha” organised at 1 pm in Nagpur.
In a related development, after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations, a clear picture of the Assembly poll scenario has emerged. After 980 candidates withdrew their nominations before the expiry of the deadline for withdrawal of nominations on Monday evening, there are now 8,272 candidates for a total 288 Assembly seats for which the elections will be held on November 20.
From the ruling MahaYuti, the key constituent BJP is contesting 152 seats, while the Eknath Shinde has fielded candidates in 85 constituencies and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is contesting 54 seats.
From its quota, the BJP has given one seat each to its partners -- Republican Party of India (Athawale), Yuva Swabhiman Party, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, and Jansurajya Paksha. These four parties are contesting 1 seat each while the BJP is fighting in 148 constituencies.
From the Opposition MVA side, the Congress is contesting 101 seats, while it is supporting one independent candidate in Kolhapur North. Its allies Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and NCP (Sharad Pawar) have fielded candidates in 92 and 87 constituencies respectively. The MVA has allotted seven seats to smaller parties.
Not happy with the smaller number of seats allotted to them, the Samajwadi Party is contesting eight seats, while the Peasants and Workers’ Party (PWP) has fielded candidates in four constituencies.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Congress rubbished the speculation about a media ban on the Samvidhan Sanman Sammelan being organised in Nagpur on Wednesday.
“Claims of a media ban in the event are false and are part of rumours being spread by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Following the teachings of the Sangh and their habit of frequent falsehoods, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has spoken blatant lies,” Maharashtra Congress' chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said.
“Following the teachings of the Sangh and their habit of frequent falsehoods, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has spoken blatant lies,” Londhe said.
“The live feed of the Samvidhan Sanman Sammelan will be available to the media through Congress's social media handles and YouTube, so the media should not believe these rumours spread by the BJP,” Londhe added.
