Maharashtra is heading for polls to elect a fresh Legislative Assembly. Elections will be held for 288 of the state legislature’s 289 seats. One seat belongs to a nominated member.
Voters in Maharashtra will head for polling in a single phase on October 21. On the same day, voters in Haryana will also cast their ballots. Counting of votes will happen on October 24.
There are a total of over 8.9 crore eligible voters in the state. The Election Commission (EC) is setting up 95,473 polling stations in Maharashtra.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hoping to retain power in the heavily-industrialised state, along with its traditional ally – the Shiv Sena.
The alliance is being challenged by the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine and other smaller parties.
Here’s a look at some of the key constituencies and interesting battles:
Worli
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s son and Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray is contesting from this Assembly constituency. This makes him the first member of the Thackeray family to enter electoral politics.
The constituency has a mix of Marathi and non-Marathi voters. With the key opposition leader in the area having defected to the Shiv Sena, Aaditya is widely believed to have an easy run.
Kothrud
BJP’s Maharashtra unit chief Chandrakant Patil is fighting his maiden Assembly election from here. However, he is up against a united Opposition.
Patil is facing the tag of being an "outsider" as he hails from Kolhapur.
He is pitted against MNS candidate Kishor Shinde. Shinde has received the backing of the Congress-NCP alliance.
Parli
This seat is witnessing a redo of the 2014 battle between cousins Pankaja Munde and Dhananjay Munde. Pankaja is the daughter of BJP veteran late Gopinath Munde.
Pankaja, a minister in the state Cabinet, had defeated Dhananjay, who is an NCP leader, by a margin of 25,000 votes in 2014 polls. Dhananjay is the Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council.
Kankavli
Former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane’s son Nitesh has been fielded by the BJP. However, this has not gone down well with BJP’s ally Shiv Sena. Nitesh had won on a Congress ticket last time.
Narayan Rane, who was once with the Shiv Sena, is considered to be Uddhav Thackeray’s arch rival. The Sena has fielded its own candidate Satish Sawant.
Fadnavis has tried to downplay the rift by calling it a "friendly fight" even as the Sena cadre in coastal Sindhudurg district seat has refused to campaign for Nitesh.
Nagpur South West
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has held this seat since 2009, when it was formed. Fadnavis is begin challenged in his home city by Congress’ Ashish Deshmukh.
Karad South
This seat is witnessing a battle between former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and BJP’s Atul Suresh Bhosale. Chavan is the sitting MLA from this seat.
The Congress has held this seat from 1962.
Bhokar
BJP’s Bapusaheb Gorthekar is taking on former chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan.
Ashok Chavan had won the seat in 2009. However, in 2014, his wife Ameeta Ashokrao Chavan had successfully contested from here.
Mumbra-Kalwa
NCP leader Jitendra Awhad has held this seat since 2009 when it was created. Shiv Sena has fielded actress-turned-politician Deepali Jahangir Sayed against Awhad.
The constituency is considered to be Awhad’s bastion. In 2014, Awhad had won the seat with a significant margin despite it being a multi-cornered contest.
Sangamner
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Balasaheb Thorat is being challenged by Shiv Sena’s Sahebrao Navale.
Thorat has held the seat since 2009.
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