Reportedly maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde will be contesting the assembly elections from Kopri-Panchpakhadi constituency in thane city. The shiv sena on tuesday released its first list of 45 candidates for the upcoming polls, nominating more than half a dozen state cabinet members from their respective seats. The first list has the names of 37 sitting MLAs, all of whom comprise the core team of loyalists that defected alongside Shinde when he split the party last year and led a revolt against the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Perhaps apart from this, the list has four new candidates and four former MLAs or relatives of MPs. Maximum names in the list are Marathas, the dominant community in the poll-bound state, which makes up a large chunk of the vote bank for all the regional parties. The list also includes three women candidates, including Manisha Waikar whose husband Ravindra Waikar made headlines when he won the lok sabha election by 48 votes. She is contesting from Mumbai’s Jogeshwari (East) in the suburbs.
Moreover the ruling Mahayuti alliance has reportedly finalized its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming maharashtra assembly election on november 20, according to sources. The three parties involved bjp, shiv sena, and nationalist congress party (NCP) have reached an agreement, with the bjp expected to secure the largest share of seats in the deal.