Maharashtra Assembly Elections: The withdrawal of the rebels from the Maharashtra Assembly elections race till Monday finally cleared up the picture in the state’s poll arena. There are now 8,272 candidates vying for the 288 seats in Maharashtra. Over 980 withdrawals have been recorded, including those from the Mahayuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi [MVA].
As the alliances’ rebels withdrew their candidatures, which they had filed going against their respective parties’ wishes, it also shed some light on the total number of nominations from each party in the Mahayuti and the MVA.
Major BJP Rebels Who Withdrew Candidature For Maharashtra Polls:
| Gopal Shetty | Borivali |
| Vijayraj Shinde | Buldhana |
| Kishore Samudre | Central Nagpur |
| Amit Ghoda | Palghar |
| Vishwajeet Gaikwad | Latur |
| Kiran Thackeray | Karjat Khalapur |
| Pratibha Pachpute | Shrigonda |
| Sangita Thombre | Kaij |
| Shivaji alias Pappu Dongre | Sangli |
| Sandeep Sarode | Katol |
Shiv Sena Rebels Who Backed Out:
| Svikriti Sharma | Andheri East |
| Suraj Salunke | Osmanabad |
| Jagdish Dhodi | Boisar |
| Prashant Lokhande | Srirampur |
| Avinash Rane | Anushakti Nagar |
| Raju Parave | Umred |
| Dhanraj Mahale | Dindori |
| Jayadat Kshirsagar | Beed |
NCP (Ajit Pawar) Candidates Who Withdrew Nominations:
| Nana Kate | Chinchwad |
| Rajebhau Phad | Parli |
| Abdul Shaikh | Newasa |
| Naresh Arsade | Katol |
| Subodh Mohite | Katol |
| Sujit Zawre Patil | Parner |
After the withdrawals, here’s how the Mahayuti seat-sharing tally stands:
- BJP+NDA partners is contesting 152 seats.
- Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde)+ is contesting 85 seats.
- NCP (Ajit Pawar) is contesting 54 seats.
Among the NDA partners are the Republican Party of India (Athawale), Yuva Swabhiman Party, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, and Jansurajya Paksha. These four parties are contesting 1 seat each while the BJP is fighting in 148 constituencies.
The Shiv Sena is fighting for 83 seats and is supporting two candidates outside the party.
The total number of contesting candidates is 291 from the Mahayuti because there are “friendly fights” on 4 seats where two Mahayuti parties have fielded candidates. These four seats are Ashti, Morshi, Shivajinagar-Mankhurd, and Purandar. In the Shivdi Assembly constituency, the Mahayuti is campaigning for Bala Nandgaonkar of Raj Thackeray’s MNS.
How Many Seats Is Maha Vikas Aghadi Contesting?
After the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Tuesday, the picture was clear for the MVA as well
- Congress is contesting 101 seats and is backing 1 independent candidate in Kolhapur North.
- Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) is fighting in 92 assembly constituencies.
- The NCP’s Sharad Pawar faction is fighting on 87 seats.
- Other smaller parties in Maharashtra, including the Shiv Sena, have been allotted the rest of the 7 seats.
The Samajwadi Party was allotted 2 seats. However, it was unhappy with the allocation and decided to fight in 8 constituencies.
