5,534 candidates in the fray in Maha polls

With the last day of filing nominations over on Friday, the stage is set for the Maharashtra Assembly elections on October 21. A total of 5,534 candidates have filed

With the last day of filing nominations over on Friday, the stage is set for the Maharashtra Assembly elections on October 21. A total of 5,534 candidates have filed their candidature across the state.

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Unlike 2014, two major coalitions, one led by ruling parties — Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena — and another led by opposition parties — Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — are contesting the elections. Both the alliances also have few small parties on their side.

The ruling dispensation, comprising BJP and Shiv Sena, are contesting 150 and 124 seats respectively. They have left 14 seats for other allies such as Republican Party of India (RPI), Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, among others, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said. Also, all 14 candidates from saffron allies will contest on BJP symbol. On the Opposition front, Congress has fielded 147 candidates for the polls, whereas NCP is contesting 123 seats against its announcement of 125 seats. However, the party has declared names of only 97 candidates. It means, there are leaving 18 seats for allies such as Samajwadi party, Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Paksha, Peasants and Workers Party of India and Bahujan Vikas Aghadi.

In contrast to the ruling alliance, the Opposition has failed to clear differences over the sharing of seats. They have yet to declare any formal alliance and which party is contesting how many seats? A press conference called to declare the alliance was also cancelled after they failed to reach a consensus over number of seats. On Friday, senior leaders from the across parties filed their nominations with much fanfare. The list comprises chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, former deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal, former leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and former chief minister Ashok Chavan.

Announcing the seat-sharing pact, Fadnavis said that ‘Mahayuti’ (grand alliance) comprising BJP, Sena and other allies will get an unprecedented victory in this election. He also said that despite differences, BJP and Sena share a common thread of “Hindutva”, and will retain power. He was addressing a press conference held for the formal announcement of the alliance.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar said this is an anti-farmer government and need to be overthrown. “Getting value of sweat is the right of the farmers, which is not happening these days. They don’t understand the value of farmers’ sweat. We need to send them (BJP-Sena) back home,” Pawar said in Kolhapur, while addressing an election campaign.

Also, some of the senior leaders will not be seen in this election as they could not get candidature from their respective parties. Some big names are Eknath Khadse, Vinod Tawde, Prakash Mehta, Chandrashekhar Bawankule etc. Sena too has dropped six sitting legislators namely Sunil Shinde, Amit Ghoda, Trupti Sawant, Ashok Patil, Subhash Bhoir and Narayan Patil. Congress has dropped only Ameeta Chavan as the party leadership wanted her husband and former chief minister Ashok Chavan to contest the election. No sitting MLA was denied ticket in the NCP.