Shinde Sena releases list of 45 candidates for Maharashtra polls

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has decided to contest from the Kopri-Pachpakhadi seat, as per the list of candidates released on Tuesday.

In Short

• Eknath Shinde to contest from Kopri-Pachpakhadi seat in Thane district
• Sadanand Sarvankar to take on Amit Thackeray for Mahim seat
• Minister Uday Saman't brother Kiran Samant fielded from Rajapur

The Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena on Tuesday released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra elections.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has decided to contest from the Kopri-Pachpakhadi seat, a party notfification said on Tuesday.

As per the list of candidates released, the Shinde Sena has fielded Sadanand Shankar Sarvankar from the Mahim seat in Mumbai, pitting him against Maharastra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackersay's son Amit Thackeray.

The party has also fielded Manisha Ravindra Wayakar, wife of MP Ravindra Waikar, from the Jogeshwari (East), Dilip Bhausaheb Lande from Chandivali, Mangesh Anant Kudalkar from Kurla and Yamini Yashwant Jadhav from Byculla Assembly seats.

Maharashtra Minister of Industries, Uday Samant's brother Kiran Samrat, has been given a party ticket from the Rajapur Assembly constituency.

The first candidate list of the Shinde faction, which is a part of the Mahayuti alliance with the BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra, came two days after the saffron party released its first list of 99 candidates.

The BJP fielded Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis from the Nagpur South West seat, state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule from Kamthi.

Other prominent leaders named in the list include Ram Kadam from Ghatkopar West, Shweta Mahale Patil from Chikli, Sreejaya Ashok Chavan from Bhokar, Nitish Rane from Kankavli, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil from Shirdi, Chandrakant Patil from Kothrud, Ashish Shelar from Vandre West, and ex-Union Minister Raosaheb Danve's son Santosh from Bhokardan.

As per sources, the development came after the seat-sharing deal was finalised between the Mahayuti alliance partners for the next month's Assembly elections.

As per the seat-sharing pact, the BJP is likely to get 152-155 seats, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena will get 78-80 seats, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP will get 52-54 seats, sources said.

However, Ajit Pawar's NCP is yet to release its first list of candidates for the state polls.

Assembly elections for the 288 seats of Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20, while the votes will be counted on November 23.