Sun Oct 20 15:12:38 UTC 2024: The BJP has announced its first list of candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election, featuring 99 nominees. Key candidates include Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who will contest from Nagpur South West, and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule for the Kamthi seat. Other notable candidates are Ram Kadam (Ghatkopar West), Shweta Mahale Patil (Chikli), Sreejaya Ashok Chavan (Bhokar), and Nitesh Rane (Kankavli). Sreejaya is the daughter of former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who joined the BJP earlier this year.
The elections for the 288-member Assembly are scheduled for November 20, with vote counting on November 23. The BJP is allied with Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s faction of the NCP. This follows a recent victory for the BJP in Haryana. In the 2019 elections, the BJP and Shiv Sena won a combined total of 161 seats, while the Congress-NCP alliance secured 98 seats.
Conflict over a rotational Chief Minister arrangement led to a political standoff between the BJP and Shiv Sena, resulting in the latter’s withdrawal from the alliance and the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition with Congress and NCP, which lasted until mid-2022 when it collapsed due to internal disputes.
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