New Delhi: The Central Election Committee of the Congress met on Monday to finalise the party’s candidates for the elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The meeting was chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended, among others, by the party's parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
The meeting, at the AICC headquarters, came a day after the BJP announced its candidate for 99 of the 288 seats in Maharashtra. Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said the MVA had reached consensus on 210 of the 288 assembly seats – a “significant achievement”.
The aim was to ensure the defeat of forces looting Maharashtra, he said in a swipe at the ruling Mahayuti. “We have arrived at a consensus on 210 seats. It is a significant achievement. We aim to contest polls as a joint force and we will defeat the forces looting Maharashtra,” Raut, a Rajya Sabha member and key strategist for the Shiv Sena (UBT), told reporters.
Though the Shiv Sena (UBT) was learnt to have been initially seeking a 100-100 formula for the Congress and itself, with the NCP (SP) getting to contest the remaining 88, the Congress was seeking a larger share of around 125 seats. This demand had also led to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut openly criticising state Congress president Nana Patole. The final numbers are expected to be somewhere in between these two figures.
The Congress’ panel for screening candidates for the polls had cleared names on 62 seats last week for consideration of the CEC. The party has announced the candidature of Ravindra Chavan, the son of Vasantrao Chavan, who passed away in August this year, necessitating the by-election on the Nanded parliamentary constituency.
