Uncertainty prevails over the fate of potential candidates on both sides of the political divide with just hours to go before the nominations close for the Maharashtra Assembly elections scheduled for November 20.
In the Mahayuti of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, suspense continued over which party contested from seven seats. The tally dropped to five after the NCP (Ajit Pawar) announced its candidates for two seats Tuesday morning.
On the other side of the fence, the Maha Vikas Aghadi is in an even more precarious situation with no consensus yet on 16 seats so far as the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT)'s struggle for one-upmanship. After announcing an 85-each formula for the three parties of the Opposition alliance, the NCP (SP) on Monday announced candidates on seven seats, taking the MVA's tally of seats announced so far to 262, leaving 16 seats where it still remains undecided. Smaller allies, including Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, are yet to announce their candidates.
Within the Mahayuti, the BJP has announced candidates on 146 seats and left four seats for its smaller allies --- the Yuva Swabhiman Party, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, Republican Party of India (Athavale) and Jan Surajya Shakti Paksha. However, two of its candidates found a place in Shiv Sena (Shinde)'s list --- party spokesperson Shaina NC from Mumbadevi and Amol Khatal from Sangamner.
Of the 138 seats left for the Sena and NCP, the Eknath Shinde-led party has announced candidates on 80 seats so far. The Shiv Sena has also left one seat each for the Jan Suraj Party and the Rajashri Shahuprakash Aghadi. The NCP, on the other hand, has announced candidates on 53 seats.
In the MVA, the Congress has announced candidates on 103 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) 87 and NCP (SP) 82 seats.
The seat-sharing tussle within the MVA surpassed the tug-of-war seen ahead of the Lok Sabha elections where the Congress emerged as the biggest gainer in terms of the seats won while the NCP had the best strike rate.
In the MVA’s candidates announced so far, the Sharad Pawar-led party has emerged as the biggest benefactors, surpassing its own expectations over the number of seats it contests.
Polling for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly elections is scheduled for November 20 while the results will be declared on November 30.
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