Maharashtra polls: Congress declares 2nd list of 23 candidates, denies tickets to two sitting MLAs

Kailash Gorantyal is the only sitting MLA to receive a renomination, maintaining his candidacy for the Jalna assembly constituency

Mumbai: The Congress party has released its second list of 23 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections, with Kailash Gorantyal being the only sitting MLA to receive a renomination, maintaining his candidacy for the Jalna assembly constituency.

Senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat is scheduled to meet Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday to address seat-sharing disagreements. (Raju Shinde/ Hindustan Times)

Two incumbent MLAs were denied tickets: Maroti Korote from Amgaon and Lahu Kanade from Shrirampur assembly constituency. They have been replaced by Rajkumar Puram and Hemant Ogale, respectively.

In Mumbai, the party has nominated candidates for three constituencies: Ganesh Kumar Yadav for Sion-Koliwada, Yashwant Singh for Charkop, and Kalu Badheliya for Kandivali East. Several Mumbai seats remain contested, including Versova, Bandra West, Vile Parle, Colaba, and Anushakti Nagar.

The list includes nominations for two seats previously disputed between Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT): Girish Pandav for Nagpur South and Suresh Bhoyar for Kamthi constituency. Additionally, Anuja Kedar has been nominated for the Savner seat. She is the wife of senior leader Sunil Kedar, who was disqualified from contesting elections for six years following his conviction in a multi-crore scam.

To address ongoing seat-sharing disagreements, senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat is scheduled to meet Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance partners have agreed to allocate 85 seats to each party, with decisions pending on the remaining 33 seats. Despite three days of negotiations, a consensus has yet to be reached.