BJP Announces Fourth List Of Candidates For Maharashtra Assembly Elections

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its fourth list of candidates on Tuesday, selecting two nominees for the Umred and Mira Bhayandar constituencies in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections scheduled for November 20. Tuesday marked the last day for filing nominations.

With this latest announcement, the BJP has fielded candidates in 148 Assembly seats, leaving four seats available for its allies, including the Yuva Swabhiman Party, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, Republican Party of India (Athawale), and Jan Suraiya Shakti Paksha. In total, the BJP and its allies will contest 152 seats.

Nominated Candidates

The party has nominated Sudhir Parwe from the Umred Scheduled Caste (SC) seat and former mayor Narendra Mehta from the Mira Bhayandar seat. Notably, Mehta lost to Independent candidate Geeta Jain in the 2019 Assembly elections.

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Tensions had previously arisen between the BJP and Shiv Sena over the Mira Bhayandar seat, as the BJP was hesitant to relinquish it to the Sena. Jain, who supported Eknath Shinde during his rebellion in June 2022, had filed her nomination as an Independent on Monday.

Renominations and Changes

In its four lists, the BJP has predominantly renominated its 103 sitting legislators, while a few candidates have been denied tickets following adverse survey reports. Former minister Prakash Mehta from Ghatkopar East, who was previously a strong contender, has again been denied a ticket. He was replaced in the 2019 elections by party Corporator Parag Shah, who has now been renominated from the same seat.

The party has also nominated Sumit Wankhede, the former Personal Assistant to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, from the Arvi constituency in Wardha district. Wankhede replaces sitting legislator Dadarao Keche, who will not contest this time.

In Borivali, sitting legislator Sunil Rane has been replaced by Mumbai unit General Secretary Sanjay Upadhyay.

Notable New Candidates

The BJP has fielded Archana Patil Chakurkar, daughter-in-law of former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil Chakurkar, from Latur City against Congress candidate and former minister Amit Deshmukh. Archana joined the BJP prior to the Lok Sabha elections.

The party has also renominated Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar, along with several ministers, including Devendra Fadnavis from Nagpur South West, Vijaykumar Gavit from Nandurbar (ST), and Girish Mahajan from Jamner.

In addition, the party has renominated candidates from various constituencies, including Devyani Pharande from Nashik Central and Prakash Bharsakale from Akot. However, sitting legislator Devraj Holi from the Naxal-affected Gadchiroli (ST) seat has been replaced by Dr. Milind Narode, while sitting legislator Lakhan Malik has been dropped in favor of Shyam Khode from Washim SC.

As the elections approach, the BJP continues to refine its candidate list amid evolving political dynamics in Maharashtra.