Maharashtra Assembly Elections: BJP releases 1st list of 99 candidates, includes Devendra Fadnavis, Chandrashekhar Bawankule

The BJP released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election on Sunday. The list includes 99 names, with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule among the key candidates.

Devendra Fadnavis will run for the Nagpur South West seat, while Chandrashekhar Bawankule has been nominated for the Kamthi seat.

Other notable candidates on the list are Ram Kadam, who will contest from Ghatkopar West, Shweta Mahale Patil from Chikli, Sreejaya Ashok Chavan from Bhokar, and Nitesh Rane from Kankavli.

Sreejaya is the daughter of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who left the Congress to join the BJP in February of this year. The election for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly will take place in one phase on November 20, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 23.

The BJP is in alliance with Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's faction of the NCP. The party is coming off a recent victory in Haryana, where it successfully challenged Congress.

In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP and Shiv Sena partnered as allies under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), while the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) teamed up as part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance achieved victory by winning 161 seats, with the BJP securing 105 seats and the Shiv Sena 56. On the other hand, the Congress-NCP alliance garnered a total of 98 seats, consisting of 54 seats for the NCP and 44 for the Congress.

Despite their pre-election alliance, the Shiv Sena demanded a rotational Chief Minister arrangement, which the BJP rejected. This disagreement resulted in a political standoff between the two parties. After weeks of discussions and political maneuvering, the Shiv Sena severed ties with the BJP and formed a new coalition with the Congress and NCP, known as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Uddhav Thackeray from the Shiv Sena was appointed as Chief Minister, marking a major change in Maharashtra's political scene.

The MVA remained in power until mid-2022, when internal disputes, particularly due to Eknath Shinde's rebellion, led to its collapse.