The NCP (SP) on Thursday announced its first list of 45 candidates for the coming Maharashtra state assembly elections.
Among notable faces, the party has fielded Yugendra Pawar against his uncle and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar from Baramati. Yugendra is the son of Ajit Pawar's younger brother Shrinivas.
Other names in the NCP (SP) list included its state chief Jayant Patil from Islampur, Jitendra Awhad from Mumbra-Kalwa, Anil Deshmukh from Katol, Harshvardhan Patil from Indapur and late RR Patil's son Rohit Patil who is making a debut from the Tasgaon-Kavthemahankal seat. The party has also fielded Prashant Jagtap from Hadapsar.
Baramati, the traditional bastion of the Pawar family, witnessed a riveting contest in the recent Lok Sabha elections between Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar and her sister-in-law Supriya Sule, the sitting MP and daughter of Sharad Pawar.
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The bitter contest against the backdrop of the family feud triggered by Ajit Pawar's rebellion in July 2023, led to Sunetra's defeat. At the time, Yugendra had campaigned for Sule, while his father criticised Ajit for deserting Sharad Pawar and joining the Mahayuti government with other NCP leaders.
{{/usCountry}}The bitter contest against the backdrop of the family feud triggered by Ajit Pawar's rebellion in July 2023, led to Sunetra's defeat. At the time, Yugendra had campaigned for Sule, while his father criticised Ajit for deserting Sharad Pawar and joining the Mahayuti government with other NCP leaders.
{{/usCountry}}The NCP (SP) is fighting the Maharashtra assembly polls as part of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance. The coalition has declared a formula for 255 seats, by announcing 85 seats each to the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), and said the remaining seats would be announced after sorting out disputes and also consulting smaller allies.
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The nomination process for the 288 seats in the Maharashtra assembly has started and the polling will happen on November 20 with the results to be declared on November 23.
In the 2019 assembly elections in Maharashtra, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena secured 56, and Congress won 44 seats.