Maha Polls: NCP (SP) publishes first list; Congress retains 25 sitting MLAs

The NCP (SP) on Thursday announced the candidature of Yugendra Pawar against his uncle and Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar from Baramati as the party released its first list of 45 candidates for the November 20 state assembly elections. Ajit Pawar, who became president of the Nationalist Congress Party after parting ways with his uncle and party founder Sharad Pawar last year, is the sitting MLA from the Baramati assembly constituency in Pune district. His party has already announced that Ajit would contest from his traditional seat.

Yugendra (32) is the son of Ajit Pawar's younger brother Shrinivas Pawar. Others in the NCP (SP) list included its state chief Jayant Patil (Islampur), Jitendra Awhad (Mumbra-Kalwa), Anil Deshmukh (Katol), Harshvardhan Patil (Indapur) and late NCP politician R R Patil's son Rohit Patil who is making a debut (Tasgaon-Kavthemahankal). Notably, in the Lok Sabha elections Ajit Pawar's wife and NCP candidate Sunetra Pawar had polled 5,73,979 votes in Baramati parliamentary constituency, losing to her sister-in-law and NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule who got 7,32,312 votes.

Jayant Patil announced the first list of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidates at a press conference here. Yugendra was selected as candidate on the demand of the people of Baramati, he said to a question. "I interacted with local people and party workers. According to them, Yugendra is a new face and can take everyone along. We thought he would be the best choice from our side. The way people are supporting him, there will be a different result this time," Patil said.

Reacting to the announcement, Yugendra Pawar said he was thankful to party supremo Sharad Pawar for putting faith in him. He will work with complete dedication, he added. Yugendra Pawar said he would highlight issues in the constituency like water scarcity, unemployment, farmers not getting right prices for their produce etc. "Corruption is on the rise in Baramati. Crime too is increasing. There are many issues, including the atrocities against women, and we will work on these issues closely," he said. Asked about the impending contest with his uncle Ajit Pawar, he said what happened in the Lok Sabha polls in Baramati should not have happened, a reference to the Supriya Sule versus Sunetra Pawar contest. Patil said the rest of the names will be announced in Mumbai on Friday.

The Congress also announced its first list of 48 candidates for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, fielding its state unit chief Nana Patole from Sakoli, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan from Karad South and Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar from Brahmapuri.

The party has retained 25 sitting MLAs in the first list. The opposition party also fielded former ministers Nitin Raut and Balasaheb Thorat from Nagpur North and Sangamner, respectively, Jyoti Eknath Gaikwad from Dharavi, Amit Deshmukh from Latur City and Dheeraj Deshmukh from Latur Rural. Mohammad Aarif Naseem Khan has been fielded from Chandivali, Aslam Sheikh from Malad West, Ranjit Kamble from Deoli and Vikas Thakre from Nagpur West.

In Raver in Jalgaon district, the party has fielded Dhananjay Chaudhari, son of sitting MLA Shirish Chaudhari. Muzafar Hussain has been fielded from Mira Bhayander in Thane district. In Bhokar, Congress' Trupti Kondekar will take on BJP's Srijaya Chavan, daughter of Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Chavan, a former CM who left the grand old party and joined the BJP recently. Chavan's relative Meenal Khatgaonkar has been fielded by the Congress from Naigaon, while Praful Gudadhe will take on senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis from Nagpur South West assembly seat.

The Congress has given tickets to former MLAs Gopaldas Agarwal and Sunil Deshmukh from Gondia and Amravati, respectively. The two had switched to the BJP but recently returned to the Congress. Jyoti Gaikwad is the sister of Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad, who was Dharavi MLA for four terms before being elected to the Lok Sabha from Mumbai North Central in the 2024 general elections. Amit and Dheeraj Deshmukh are sons of former chief minister and Congress stalwart late Vilasrao Deshmukh.

The list comes a day after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of the Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) announced that they will contest 85 seats each in the November 20 polls. However, deliberations to seal a final pact are still underway. The three allies are discussing the sharing of the remaining 33 seats of the total 288 among themselves and smaller parties. Addressing a press conference here in the evening, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said a consensus has been reached on 270 of the 288 seats.

"We will include the Samajwadi Party, PWP, CPI(M), CPI and AAP. Discussions are still on for the remaining seats. We have amicably arrived at a consensus on 270 seats. The MVA stands united to defeat the Mahayuti government," Raut said.

Patole said the remaining seats will be given to smaller parties. The ruling Mahayuti alliance comprises Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly will be held in a single phase on November 20. The votes will be counted on November 23.