Following the announcement by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which consists of the Congress, NCP (led by Sharad Pawar), and Shiv Sena (under Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), they unveiled a list indicating their intention to compete for 85 seats each, out of the total 288 seats available.
The Congress party revealed a list of 48 candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election on Thursday, October 24, 2024, which includes prominent figures like former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, outgoing Assembly Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, and State unit chief Nana Patole.
In the initial roster, the party has preserved 25 incumbent MLAs.
The compilation was released one day subsequent to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes the Congress, NCP led by Sharad Pawar, and Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, declaring their intention to vie for 85 seats each. Nevertheless, negotiations are ongoing to finalize the agreement. The trio is currently in talks to distribute the remaining 33 seats out of the total 288 among themselves and smaller political entities.
The candidates chosen to represent their constituencies are Mr. Chavan from Karad South, Mr. Patole from Sakoli, and Mr. Wadettiwar from Brahmapuri.
Former Ministers Nitin Raut and Balasaheb Thorat were nominated by the party to contest from Nagpur North and Sangamner, respectively. Furthermore, Jyoti Eknath Gaikwad was chosen as the candidate from Dharavi, while Amit Deshmukh and Dheeraj Deshmukh were selected to run from Latur City and Latur Rural, respectively.
Children of the late Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was both a former Chief Minister and a prominent figure in the Congress party, are Mr. Amit and Mr. Dheeraj.
Ms. Jyoti, the sibling of Varsha Gaikwad, the Mumbai Congress leader, previously held the position of Dharavi MLA for four consecutive terms before securing a seat in the Lok Sabha representing Mumbai North Central in the latest parliamentary elections.
The candidates nominated in the respective constituencies are Mohammad Aarif Naseem Khan for Chandivali, Aslam Sheikh for Malad West, Ranjit Kamble for Deoli, and Vikas Thakre for Nagpur West.
The party has nominated Dhananjay Chaudhari, the son of current MLA Shirish Chaudhari, to contest from Raver in Jalgaon district. In Mira Bhayander, Thane district, Muzafar Hussain has been selected as the candidate.
The competition in Bhokar will feature Trupti Kondekar from the Congress and Srijaya Chavan from the BJP, the daughter of Ashok Chavan, a former Chief Minister who resigned from the Congress to join the ruling party.
Congress has nominated Meenal Khatgaonkar to contest from Naigaon, whereas Praful Gudadhe is set to challenge the senior BJP figure and Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis for the Nagpur South West Assembly seat.
Former MLAs Gopaldas Agarwal and Sunil Deshmukh from Gondia and Amravati, respectively, have been nominated by the Congress party. Despite their previous stint with the BJP, these two politicians have now realigned themselves with the Congress.
The 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled to take place on November 20 in a single phase, with the counting of votes set for November 23.
