The Shiv Sena on Tuesday revealed its first 45 candidates for November’s Maharashtra assembly election. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the Sena, will contest from the Kopri-Pachpakhadi assembly constituency in his stronghold of Thane, a late-night release from the party showed.
In the 2009 assembly election, the constituency elected Shinde as its first-ever legislator. He also secured wins in 2014 and 2019.
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The Sena, a member of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, will contest with its partners, the BJP and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s NCP. While the parties are yet to reveal their seat-sharing formula, the BJP, the largest party in the state, has announced its first 99 candidates. On the other hand, the NCP is yet to release its first list.
Who are Shiv Sena’s first 45 candidates?
Several incumbent MLAs have been repeated from their respective constituencies. Besides Shinde, other such candidates are Manjula Gavit (Sakri), Chandrakant Sonawane (Chopda), Gulabrao Patil (Jalgaon Rural), Chandrakant Nimba Patil (Muktainagar), Sanjay Gaikwad (Buldhana), and more.
Maharashtra, which has 288 assembly seats, will vote on November 20. The results will be declared on November 23.
In the Lok Sabha polls, held in April-June, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (Congress-Shiv Sena UBT-NCP SP) won 30 of Maharashtra’s 48 parliamentary constituencies while the Mahayuti scored only 17 wins.
Meanwhile, the assembly polls next month, will be the first in Maharashtra since the June 2022 split of the Shiv Sena that led to the collapse of the Aghadi government and the formation of the Mahayuti government. In July 2023, the NCP, too, split and Ajit Pawar joined the ruling side.
The Election Commission recognises the factions led by Shinde and Pawar as the ‘real’ Shiv Sena and NCP, respectively.
