BJP announces first list of candidates for Maharashtra polls, CM Devendra Fadnavis to contest from Nagpur

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Updated: Oct 01, 2019 14:10 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday announced its first list of candidates for 125 assembly constituencies, fielding chief minister Devendra Fadnavis from Nagpur South West assembly constituency. Maharashtra assembly has 288 seats, and the BJP will fight this month’s election in alliance with the Shiv Sena.

BJP’s Maharashtra chief Chandrakant Patil will be party’s candidate from Kothrud. The list also has 12 woman candidates.

The BJP also fielded Udayanraje Bhosale, a former MP of the Nationalist Congress Party and a descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji, in the bye-election to Satara parliamentary seat, vacated by him.

The BJP and the Sena on Monday announced that the two parties will contest the October 21 Maharashtra Assembly elections together, but stopped short of disclosing their seat-sharing formula.

The BJP is expected to get 145-odd seats to contest and the Sena, 125. Rest will go to allies, including the Republican Party of India of union minister Ramdas Athawale.

The two parties issued a press release signed by state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil and senior Sena leader Subhash Desai as their formal announcement.

It said the BJP, Shiv Sena, Union minister Ramdas Athawale’s Republican Party of India, Mahadev Jankar-led Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and Vinayak Mete-led Shiv Sangram will contest the upcoming polls together as an alliance.

The statement also said seat-sharing details would be announced later.