MUMBAI: A day after finalising the names of 14 candidates from the state for the LS polls, Congress on Thursday declared the names of seven of them . The final list has reportedly been delayed owing to MPCC chief Nana Patole and leader of the opposition Vijay Wadettiwar‘s refusal to contest from Bhandara-Gondia and Chandrapur, respectively.
The party’s central election committee had approved their candidature at a meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to reports, Patole has said since he is keen on campaigning across the state, he shouldn’t be contesting the polls, while Wadettiwar wants his daughter, Shivani, to be picked from Chandrapur. After Wadettiwar, Pratibha Dhanorkar, the widow of Balu Dhanorkar, who was the only candidate to deliver a win to Congress in the 2019 general elections, is said to be the frontrunner for the seat.
A senior Congress leader said in view of the dispute over Bhiwandi, Sangli and Mumbai South-Central among Maha Vikas Aghadi parties, a decision on these constituencies will be taken in Delhi. Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress have staked claim to Sangli, NCP and Congress want Bhiwandi, and Congress and Sena (UBT) are both keen on Mumbai South-Central.
Former CM Prithviraj Chavan will lead the party’s campaign committee for Maharashtra for the elections.
Meanwhile, MVA leaders Nana Patole, Balasaheb Thorat, Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad met NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar at his home to work out the seat sharing pact. “There is no dispute. We will release the list for all 48 seats from the state in a day or two. It will be a respectable seat sharing formula,” Patole said.
He said BJP is expecting a massive drubbing in the LS elections and, therefore, forced the EC to announce a five-phase poll schedule for Maharashtra. He said it is for the first time in the state that elections are being held in several phases. Patole said an action plan for campaigning was discussed at length at Thursday’s meeting. “It will be a joint campaign. Our goal is to defeat BJP,” he said.
The party’s central election committee had approved their candidature at a meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to reports, Patole has said since he is keen on campaigning across the state, he shouldn’t be contesting the polls, while Wadettiwar wants his daughter, Shivani, to be picked from Chandrapur. After Wadettiwar, Pratibha Dhanorkar, the widow of Balu Dhanorkar, who was the only candidate to deliver a win to Congress in the 2019 general elections, is said to be the frontrunner for the seat.
A senior Congress leader said in view of the dispute over Bhiwandi, Sangli and Mumbai South-Central among Maha Vikas Aghadi parties, a decision on these constituencies will be taken in Delhi. Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress have staked claim to Sangli, NCP and Congress want Bhiwandi, and Congress and Sena (UBT) are both keen on Mumbai South-Central.
Former CM Prithviraj Chavan will lead the party’s campaign committee for Maharashtra for the elections.
Meanwhile, MVA leaders Nana Patole, Balasaheb Thorat, Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad met NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar at his home to work out the seat sharing pact. “There is no dispute. We will release the list for all 48 seats from the state in a day or two. It will be a respectable seat sharing formula,” Patole said.
He said BJP is expecting a massive drubbing in the LS elections and, therefore, forced the EC to announce a five-phase poll schedule for Maharashtra. He said it is for the first time in the state that elections are being held in several phases. Patole said an action plan for campaigning was discussed at length at Thursday’s meeting. “It will be a joint campaign. Our goal is to defeat BJP,” he said.