BJP releases first candidate list for Maharashtra elections

The list, released this afternoon, includes 99 candidates.

Maharashtra's Assembly has 288 seats, and the BJP is expected to contest around 160, while its allies Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP will contest the remaining.

Nagpur is a BJP stronghold, where Union Minister Nitin Gadkari represents the parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha.

Of the six Assembly segments within this Lok Sabha seat, the BJP holds four.

Other notable names include state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who is contesting from Kamthi in Nagpur district.

State minister Sudhir Mungantiwar has been nominated from the Ballarpur seat, while Santosh Danve, son of Union Minister Raosaheb Danve, will contest from Bhokardan.

The BJP has also fielded Sreejaya Chavan in Bhokar; she is the daughter of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who joined the BJP before the Lok Sabha elections and is now a Rajya Sabha member.

Sitting MLA Mihir Kotecha has been retained as the candidate for Mulund, and three-time legislator Ram Kadam will run again from Ghatkopar West in Mumbai.

BJP Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar will contest from Vandre West, while his brother will run in Malad West.

State minister Chandrakant Patil will contest from Kothrud, and Subhash Deshmukh from Solapur.

Nitesh Rane, son of veteran leader Narayan Rane, will run from Kankavli.

The BJP's first list features 13 women candidates, six candidates from Scheduled Tribes, and four from Scheduled Castes.

The party has largely stuck with its sitting MLAs, a departure from its usual practice of replacing incumbents to counteract anti-incumbency.

This strategy suggests the BJP's confidence going into what is expected to be a closely contested election.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-Sena-NCP alliance won only 17 of Maharashtra's 48 seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi (comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP) secured 30 seats.

In the 2019 state polls, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance had a strong showing, but the allies later split over disagreements about the Chief Minister's post, leading Uddhav Thackeray to form a government with the Congress and NCP.

This government was later toppled by a rebellion led by Eknath Shinde, who became Chief Minister.

The splitting of both the Sena and NCP has reshaped Maharashtra's political landscape, adding further intrigue to the upcoming election.