Maharashtra polls: BJP drops 8 sitting MLAs, Congress 5; Shiv Sena fields all

Mumbai: With the nomination deadline for the Maharashtra assembly elections now closed, it emerges that the BJP and Congress have dropped the maximum number of sitting MLAs among the major political parties.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has opted not to grant tickets to eight MLAs, followed by Congress which replaced five MLAs.

The NCP led by Ajit Pawar and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) have opted to not grant tickets to two incumbent MLAs each.

Notably, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has repeated almost all MLAs who had sided with Shinde during the rebellion barring one.

Voting for 288 seats will be held on November 20. Votes will be counted on November 23.

The exact number of candidates fielded by each constituent of the ruling Mahayuti and opposition MVA alliance cannot be reconciled as some parties have given nomination forms to two candidates in certain seats.

Among the most surprising decisions by the BJP is the replacement of Sunil Rane, the sitting MLA from Borivali in Mumbai, with Sanjay Upadhyay.

Other incumbents denied tickets include Sandeep Dhurve from Arni and Namdev Sasane from Umarkhed, who will be succeeded by Raju Todsam and Kisan Wankhede, respectively.

The BJP has also replaced Dada Kenche from Arvi and Vikas Kumbhare from Nagpur Central with Sumit Wankhede and Praveen Datke, respectively.

Wankhede had earlier served as an assistant to BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, while Datke is a sitting MLC of the party.

Interestingly, Ashwini Jagtap from Chinchwad has been replaced by her brother-in-law, Shankar Jagtap. The party has also chosen to field Sulabha Gaikwad, the wife of jailed MLA Ganpat Gaikwad, from Kalyan East who had allegedly fired at a Shiv Sena rival inside a police station. Meanwhile, Lakhan Malik, a four-time winner from Washim, has been replaced by Shyam Khode.

The Congress party has replaced five incumbent MLAs.

Hemant Ogale will contest from Shrirampur, taking over from Lahu Kanade, while former Zilla Parishad officer Rajkumar Puram replaces Sahasram Korote in Amgaon.

Notably, Shirish Chaudhary will not be seeking re-election; instead, his son Dhananjay will run from Raver.

The party has also dropped Sulabha Khodke and Hiraman Khoskar from Amravati and Igatpuri seats, respectively, due to anti-party activities, with both candidates now securing nominations from the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Sunil Deshmukh will represent Congress from the Amravati constituency and Lackybhau Jadhav from Igatpuri.

The NCP (SP) has replaced Katol MLA and former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh with his son Salil Deshmukh. In the Madha constituency, the Sharad Pawar-led party nominated Abhijeet Patil instead of repeating Babanrao Shinde.

Ajit Pawar-led NCP denied tickets to MLAs Manohar Chandrikapure from Arjuni Morgaon and Balasaheb Ajabe from Ashti. They have been replaced by former BJP minister Rajkumar Badole and ex-MLC Suresh Dhas, respectively.

The Shiv Sena denied a ticket to only one sitting MLA, Shrinivas Vanga from Palghar, and fielded former Lok Sabha member Rajendra Gavit in his place.