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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday released its first list of 99 candidates for the Maharashtra assembly elections, scheduled to be held on November 20.
As per the list, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will contest from Nagpur South West, while state BJP president Chandrashekhar Krishnarao Bawankule will contest from the Kamthi seat. Other key candidates include Minister Girish Mahajan who will contest from Jamner, Sudhir Mungantiwar from Ballarpur, Sreejaya Ashok Chavan from Bhokar, Ashish Shelar from Vandre West, Mangal Prabhat Lodha from Malabar Hill, Rahul Narwekar from Colaba, and Chhatrapati Shivendra Raje Bhosale from Satara. The list also features Suresh Damu Bhole from Jalgaon City, Atul Save from Aurangabad East, Sanjay Mukund Kalkar from Thane, and Vinod Shelar from Malad West, among others. The announcement two days after a meeting held at Union Home Minister Amit Shah's residence to discuss the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) strategy for the Maharashtra polls. Maharashtra has 288 Assembly seats, and the BJP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance alongside the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. As election day nears, both the Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) -- comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress -- have intensified their preparations, including seat-sharing discussions. Earlier, Deputy CM Fadnavis confirmed that seat-sharing talks within the Mahayuti alliance are nearing completion. "We cleared the problematic seats by having a positive discussion. We will clear the few remaining seats in the next two days, we have decided that the cleared seats should be announced by that party at their convenience," he said. "In the BJP, processes like the Election Committee and Parliamentary Board have almost come to an end," he added. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that positive discussions on seat sharing were held during Friday's meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah. "The discussions are in the final phase. The seat sharing will be finalised soon and we will give you the good news," Shinde added. Sources had said that the seat-sharing arrangement among the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP were almost finalized. Of the 288 seats, the Shinde-led faction is expected to contest 85-90 seats, Ajit Pawar's NCP around 50, with the BJP contesting the remainder. In the recent parliamentary elections, the opposition MVA outperformed the BJP, winning 30 of Maharashtra's 48 seats, while the BJP's tally dropped to 9 from 23 in the previous election. Maharashtra will vote on November 20, and the results will be announced on November 23. (ANI)
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