Mumbai: A total of 4,426 nomination papers of 3,259 candidates have been filed till October 28 for the elections on 288 constituencies of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, said a release from the office of Maharashtra's Chief Election Officer.
The assembly polls for the 288 seats are scheduled on November 20. The counting of votes will be done on November 23.
The last date for filing the nominations was October 29 while the last date for scrutiny of these application forms was October 30. The last date for the withdrawal of applications was November 4.
MVA Faces A Major Setback Ahead Of Assembly Elections
Meanwhile, in a major setback to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, the Congress candidate for Kolhapur North constituency, Madhurima Raje Malojiraje Bhosale, withdrew her nomination on Monday.
This unexpected move comes after Congress Party's initial decision to nominate Rajesh Latkat, only to replace him with Madhurima, daughter-in-law of Kolhapur Congress MP Shahu Maharaj, at the last minute.
Rajesh Latkat, now running as an independent candidate, refused to withdraw from the race, prompting Shahu Maharaj to ask Madhurima to retract her nomination. The main contest is now expected to be between Latkat, a Congress rebel, and Rajesh Kshirsagar of Shiv Sena representing the Mahayuti alliance.
This development has significant implications in the Maharashtra assembly polls. The Kolhapur North constituency is a crucial seat; Shiv Sena's Rajesh Vinayakrao Kshirsagar won in 2014, while Congress candidate Chandrakant Pandit Jadhav claimed victory in 2019.
Following Jadhav's death, his wife, Jayashree Jadhav, won a bye-election but later joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena after being denied a Congress ticket. With Madhurima's withdrawal, the contest has been thrown open, making it a closely watched race between Latkat and Kshirsagar.
NCP Leader Nana Kate Withdraws His Candidature
NCP leader Nana Kate also withdrew his candidature as an independent candidate from the Chinchwad assembly constituency on Monday.
The notification for the election was issued on October 22.
As Maharashtra gears up for the assembly polls, the Model Code of Conduct was enforced in the state on October 15.
Meanwhile, as many as 1,648 complaints of violation of the code of conduct were received on the C-Vigil application from October 15 to 29, out of which 1,646 have been resolved by the Election Commission, the Chief Electoral Officer's office stated.
The C-Vigil App, which helps vigilant citizens to follow the code of conduct, can be downloaded from any app store. Through this app, citizens can register complaints of violations of the code of conduct.
After the complaint is registered, appropriate action is taken after investigation by the concerned team, it said.
Political Parties Giving It Their All
Both the ruling Mahayuti alliance as well the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are gearing up and leaving no stone unturned for the assembly polls.
Mahayuti is the alliance of Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction). While, MVA is the coalition of Shiv Sena (UBT) (Uddhav Thackeray faction), NCP (SCP) (Sharad Pawar faction), and the Congress party.
Contrary to the 2019 assembly elections, this election in Maharashtra is witnessing major changes, with the rise of two factions within the major regional parties Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Uddhav Thackeray faction (Shivsena UBT) fighting against their long-term ally BJP.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set for November 23.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
