The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday retained 71 of its sitting MLAs, as it released its first list of 99 candidates for the Maharashtra Assembly polls that contained the names of its bigwigs like Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state unit President Chandrashekhar Bawankule and as many as 13 women candidates.
With the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) still to formalise its tie-up among its constituents and its own MahaYuti allies - the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) having not released their lists of candidates yet, the BJP became the first major political party in Maharashtra to get off the blocks for the November 20 Assembly polls.
The BJP, which heads the grand ruling alliance MahaYuti, is likely to contest anywhere from 155 to 160 seats out of the total 288 seats in the 2024 Assembly polls, as against 164 seats it had contested in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls.
The BJP released its first list of candidates in New Delhi on Sunday, after its central election committee cleared the names at a meeting held on October 16 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Party president J P Nadda.
As many as 71 sitting BJP MLAs out of the total 105 seats the party won in the 2019 State Assembly polls, figure in the first list of candidates The list also contains the names of second-generation and third-generation leaders.
A five-time MLA, Fadnavis will contest from Nagpur South West, while State BJP president Chandrashekar Bawankule, who is currently a MLC, would contest the Kamtee seat.
Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who has presided over hearings of disqualification petitions filed in connection with the splits in the Shiv Sena and NCP, will contest from Colaba.
Among other things, the BJP has fielded former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan’s daughter Shreejaya Chavan from the family seat of Bhokar, former Union Minister Raosaheb Danve’s Santosh Raosaheb Danve from Bhokardan, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP and former Chief Minister Narayan Rane’s son Nitesh from Kankavli and late Congress Chief Minister Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar’s grandson Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar from Nilanga.
Senior State ministers Sudhir Mungantiwar and Girish Mahajan have been re-nominated as candidates from Ballarpur and Jamner, respectively.
Three sitting MLAs who have been dropped are Ashwini Jagtap from Chinchwad, Ganpat Gaikwad from Kalyan East and Babanrao Pachpute from Shrigonda.
Jagtap’s brother-in-law Shankar Jagtap has been given a ticket. Gaikwad, who is in jail in a firing case, has been replaced by his wife Sulabha Gaikwad. Pachpute’s wife Pratibha Pachpute would be contesting.
The BJP has re-fielded Mumbai President Ashish Shelar from Vandre West (as Bandra west is known) in Mumbai. Senior leader and minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha will contest the elite Malabar Hills where the residences of the ministerial bungalows exist and where several prominent personalities live.
Veteran politician Vijaykumar Gavit has been fielded from the Nandurbar (ST) seat.
Chhatrapati Shivendra Raje Bhosale, a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will re-contest from Satara. He is the cousin of Satara MP Shrimant Chhatrapati Udayan Raje Bhosale and son of late MLA Chhatrapati Abhaysinh Raje Bhosale.
Another royal family member Jaykumar Rawal has been re-nominated from the Sindhkheda seat. From the temple town seat of Tuljapur, Ranajagjitsinha Patil has been renominated. He is son of Padmasinh Patil, the brother of NCP Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar.
Former minister and MLC Prof Ram Shinde will contest from Karjat-Jamkhed, the seat that he lost last time to Rohit Pawar, the grand-nephew of Sharad Pawar.
