Maharashtra Elections 2024: Eknath Shinde retains 37 loyalists in Shiv Sena's first list of 45 candidates

The Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday announced its first list of 45 candidates for the Maharashtra Assembly elections scheduled to be held on November 20.

Of the 45 names announced, the first list features 37 sitting MLAs including around half a dozen ministers, all of whom are seen as loyalists to Shinde and rebelled against then CM Uddhav Thackeray when the Shiv Sena split.

As per the list released late last evening, Shinde will contest the assembly elections from the Kopri-Panchpakhadi Assembly constituency in Thane city, seen as a stronghold of the incumbent CM.

There are seven ministers fielded by the party in the Assembly polls. They include Gulabrao Patil, Deepak Kesarkar, Abdul Sattar and Shamburaj Desai from Jalgaon Rural, Sawantwadi, Sillod and Patan, respectively.

Another cabinet minister, Dada Bhuse, will contest from the Malegaon Outer assembly constituency in Nashik district while ministers Uday Samant and Tanaji Sawant have been fielded from the Ratnagiri and Paranda seats, respectively.

The Shinde Sena’s list also comprises four fresh faces while the party has chosen to repose its faith in four former MLAs or relatives of MPs. A majority of the candidates in the first list hail from the dominant Maratha community which makes up for a significant chunk of voters and holds sway in at least 46 seats of the Marathwada region.

The list also includes three women candidates, including Manisha Waikar who has been fielded from Mumbai’s Jogeshwari (East) constituency. Her husband Ravindra Waikar made headlines when he won the Lok Sabha election by 48 votes.

Candidates fielded by the party in its first list also include kin of MLAs. Kiran Samant, brother of minister Uday Samant, has been fielded from Rajapur while Suhas Babar, son of the late legislator Anil Babar, will contest from Khanapur in Sangli district.

Abhijit Adsul, son of Sena leader and former Union minister Anand Adsul, will contest from Daryapur in Amravati district while Vilas Bhumre, son of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) Lok Sabha MP Sandipan Bhumre, will contest from Paithan.

The release of the Shiv Sena’s (Shinde) first list has allowed the ruling Mahayuti to steal the march against the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), the NCP(SP) and Congress. The BJP was the first major party to release its first list of 99 candidates on October 20.

With the Sena’s first list, the Mahayuti has now announced candidates on 144 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. On the other hand, the MVA is still struggling to finalise its seat-sharing agreement with the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) at odds over candidates on certain seats.

Polling in Maharashtra is scheduled to be held on November 20 while the counting of votes will be taken up on November 23. The term of the current Maharashtra legislative assembly concludes on November 26.