National Desk
20 October
Sandeep Dhand Ludhiana
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its first list of 99 candidates for the upcoming 288-member Maharashtra Assembly elections. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will contest from his traditional Nagpur South West seat. The list includes Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar, who will run from the Bandra West seat, and Nitesh Rane, son of senior leader Narayan Rane, who will contest from Kankavali.
Other prominent names include Maharashtra BJP president Chandrasekhar Bawankule, who will contest from Kamti, and former state president Chandrakant Patil, running from Kothrud. Additionally, Srijaya Chavan, daughter of former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, will contest from Bhokar.
The BJP aims to contest 150 seats and is in talks with its alliance partners, the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and the NCP faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, to finalize the seat-sharing agreement for the election. This marks an important step for the BJP as it prepares for the Maharashtra Assembly elections.