NCP (SP) Maharashtra President Jayant Patil, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole with Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Vijay Wadettiwar and others during a joint press conference of Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: The entire Maharashtra Congress top brass has found space in the first list of candidates for the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha polls even as relatives of prominent leaders have been accommodated.
The Congress has not disturbed the top leadership and most of them have been retained in the first list of 48 candidates announced on Thursday night.
The first list includes four Muslim candidates.
Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole will contest the Sakoli seat while Leader of the Opposition in Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar will contest from Brahmapuri.
While Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat would contest from Sangamner, former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has been fielded from Karad South.
State Congress Working President Naseem Khan, who is a Congress Working Committee invitee member has been nominated from Chandivali in Mumbai. Khan was keen to contest the Lok Sabha polls, however, when denied ticket he decided to stay away from the campaign. Thereafter he was pursued by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi to join the campaign.
Three more Muslim candidates find place in the list - state Working President Muzaffar Hussian from Mira Bhayander, Aslam Khan from Malad West and Amin Patel from Mumbadevi.
Mumbai Congress President Prof Varsha Gaikwad, who was elected the MP from Mumbai North Central, ensured that her sister Dr Jyoti Gaikwad gets nomination from the Dharavi seat that she vacated.
Late Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s two sons have been retained - Amit Deshmukh from Latur City and Dhiraj Deshmukh from Latur Rural.
Former minister Dr Nitin Raut has been nominated from the Nagpur North (SC) reserved seat.
The Congress list includes 25 sitting MLAs.
Vikas Thakre - who unsuccessfully contested the Nagpur Lok Sabha seat against BJP’s Nitin Gadkari - will contest from Nagpur West.
Two leaders who returned from the BJP were nominated - Gopaldas Agarwal from Gondiya and Dr Sunil Deshmukh from Amravati.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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