NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Prithviraj Chavan during a joint press conference, in Mumbai.
Credit: PTI Photo
The parliamentary board of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) met here on Saturday to discuss prospective candidates for the next month's Maharashtra assembly elections, sources said. Besides Pawar, the party's Maharashtra president Jayant Patil, working president Supriya Sule and Harshvardhan Patil were among those present, they added. Patil joined the NCP (SP) earlier this month after quitting the BJP. The Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of the Opposition which comprises the Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) is yet to finalise its seat-sharing arrangement. The state will go to polls on November 20.
The BJP on Saturday released its first list of 66 candidates for the Jharkhand assembly elections, fielding party president Babulal Marandi from Dhanwar and former chief minister Champai Soren from Saraikela.
The party named Sita Soren, the sister-in-law of JMM leader and Chief Minister Hemant Soren, as its nominee from Jamtara.
"They are trying to mess up the voter list with the help of the Election Commission. BJP is contesting nearly 150 assembly seats and they are finding those people who have voted for the MVA and replacing their names with bogus voters... We will raise this issue on international platforms and tell people what is happening in the country," Raut said.
"We are not getting an appropriate representation in the seat sharing. Alliance partners should give statements in coalition. We have already demanded 22 seats... We will speak further later...," said RJD state president Sanjay Singh Yadav.
"The INDI alliance is an alliance of corrupt leaders...The public of Jharkhand is fed up with these corrupt leaders and they will vote for the BJP as they want development in the state. NDA will form the government in Jharkhand...," Chhattisgarh Deputy CM Arun Sao said.
"Every leader of the Mahayuti is fighting amongst themselves...This party has come based on an opportunistic alliance to grab power...The people of Maharashtra will vote them out...The public is with the Maha Vikas Aghadi and we will declare the name of candidates before the Mahayuti Alliance...," Chaturvedi said.
Even as the I.N.D.I.A. alliance looks on shaky grounds, RJD leader Manoj Jha spoke about seat-sharing talks with Congress-JMM for the Jharkhand polls. He said, "Less than 12-13 seats not acceptable, RJD has strong hold on 18-20 seats," and also put forth plan of 'going solo' if talks broke down.
The BJP has retained 71 sitting MLAs in the first list of 99 candidates for the forthcoming Maharashtra assembly polls and also fielded kin of some regional satraps including Congress-turned-BJP politician Ashok Chavan's daughter.The list includes 13 women candidates. The saffron party has retained 71 MLAs and dropped three. (PTI)
The AJSU Party, an ally of the NDA in Jharkhand, on Sunday released its first list of eight candidates for the assembly elections in the state and nominated its supremo Sudesh Kumar Mahto from Silli.
As per the seat-sharing arrangement, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituents All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Party will contest 10 seats, JD(U) 2 and LJP (Ram Vilas) one while the saffron party will field candidates in the remaining 68 seats.
Mahto had, in 2019, won the Silli assembly seat by a margin of 20,195 votes, defeating the nearest rival of JMM's Seema Devi.
The AJSU Party said Sunita Choudhary will contest from Ramgarh and Neeru Shanti Bhagat from Lohardaga.
Elections to the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will be held in two phases, on November 13 and 20, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 23. (PTI)
AJSU party list
Credit: X/ANI
Amid a stalemate in the Maha Vikas Aghadi over the sharing of seats for the Maharashtra assembly polls, allies Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) met NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and held deliberations.
MVA sources said a seat-sharing deal is likely to be sealed in a day or two after arriving at consensus.
Pawar stayed put at YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai where Congress leader Naseem Khan, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Aaditya Thackeray, Sanjay Raut, Anil Parab, and NCP (SP)'s Anil Deshmukh called on him.
Senior Congress leaders from Maharashtra are in Delhi to attend the central election committee meeting, sources said.
"Talks among MVA allies are centred around 10 to 12 seats to decide which party can give a better candidate," they said.
Naseem Khan said that discussions for building a consensus on the remaining 10 per cent of seats are in progress.
"Since Sharad Pawar is the architect of MVA we met him today and held talks," Khan said. (PTI)