BJP declares first list of 125 candidates for Maharashtra polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its first list of 125 candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls on Tuesday (October 1) and said it will contest the election in alliance with the Shiv Sena and some smaller parties.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will contest the polls from the Nagpur South West and the Maharashtra unit chief of the BJP, Chandrakant Patil, from Kothrud, according to the list released by the party’s general secretary, Arun Singh.

List of BJP candidates for the ensuing Bye-election to the Parliamentary Constituency and General Election to the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra. https://t.co/v5gbhIXOng pic.twitter.com/whyR7aePF8

— BJP (@BJP4India) October 1, 2019

Addressing a press conference, Singh said the party had not given tickets to 12 of its MLAs.

BJP released its first list a day after it finalised an alliance with Shiv Sena.

“The BJP will contest the Maharashtra Assembly election in an alliance with the Shiv Sena and some smaller parties,” he said.

The Republican Party of India (A), the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh, the Shiv Sangram Sanghatna and the Rayat Kranti Sena are the other constituents in the “Mahayuti” (Grand Alliance). The Sena is likely to contest 124 seats and of the remaining 164, the BJP will give a few seats to the smaller allies.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya has already announced his candidature from the Worli seat in Mumbai being the first member of the Thackeray family, to contest an election.

In 2014 Maharashtra assembly polls, the BJP and the Shiv Sena had contested separately. They however came together to form the government in the state. The BJP had emerged as the single-largest party in the 2014 polls with 122 seats, followed by the Sena with 63 in the 288-member House.

Maharashtra is scheduled to go to polls on October 21 and the results will be declared on October 24.

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(With inputs from agencies)