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Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Nagpur South-West Assembly seat, Devendra Fadanvis filed his nomination on Friday and thanked Bharatiya Janata Party and its top leaders for giving him a ticket for the sixth time.
"I express my gratitude to PM Modi, Union HM Amit Shah, party's national president JP Nadda and Union minister Nitin Gadkari for showing trust in me and giving me the ticket for the sixth time. I am sure that people will bless me. With the works done by the Mahayuti govt, we will form the govt again in the state... Our only aim is - the pace that we have given to Maharashtra, it's needed that Mahayuti govt comes to power again..." said Fadnavis. Hitting out at the Congress party, Fadnavis said that they are against reservation and Ambedkar's ideals. "Rahul Gandhi has spoken against reservation abroad. Nehru ji, Indira ji have done the same. Nana Patole has rendered support to Rahul Gandhi. Congress is against the Ambedkar ideals. BJP as long as in power won't let anybody touch the reservation," he added. Prior to filing his nomination, Fadnavis held a roadshow in his constituency. Maharashtra assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with the counting for all 288 assembly constituencies to be held on November 23. The main electoral contest is between two alliances; the ruling Mahayuti alliance - comprising of the BJP along with Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) - comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress. Both the factions have intensified their preparations as the polling dates draw near. Earlier, Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) released its first list of candidates, with deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar contesting from Baramati. In the 2019 assembly elections in Maharashtra, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena secured 56, and Congress won 44 seats. Earlier on Thursday, a crucial meeting was held in Delhi between Home Minister Amit Shah and leaders of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Praful Patel, and Sunil Tatkare, among others, attended the meeting. All three parties had already released their initial lists of candidates, but 106 seats remained unannounced. Among these, 20 to 25 seats were contentious, with claims from all three parties. This meeting aimed to address these disputes. According to sources, to resolve the seat allocation issues, the constituent parties of the Mahayuti will swap some seats. The BJP is expected to leave certain seats for the NCP, while Eknath Shinde will also concede some seats that the Shiv Sena contested in 2019. Most seats were agreed upon in the meeting with Amit Shah, though a few remain undecided. It was concluded that decisions regarding these remaining seats will depend on which party will likely win, with leaders from all three parties meeting in Mumbai to finalise the arrangements. (ANI)
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