Mumbai: Ajit Pawar faction of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday announced its first list of candidates for Maharashtra assembly elections, revealing the names of 38 people who will represent the party. This announcement comes as political parties gear up for the elections, aiming to secure significant seats in the state assembly.
Ajit Pawar, deputy chief minister and party chief, will contest from Baramati constituency. Baramati is known to be a stronghold for NCP, and Pawar’s candidacy is expected to garner substantial support.
These candidates in NCP’s list
Other prominent candidates in the list include Chhagan Bhujbal, who will contest from Yeola and Dilip Walse Patil, who will run from Ambegaon. Both candidates have a strong political background and are expected to bring valuable experience to the party’s campaign.
Jitendra Ahwad, a prominent leader in NCP, has been contesting from Kalwa Mumbra constituency. In a surprising move, Ajit Pawar faction has given the ticket to Najeeb Mulla, which raises concerns about dividing the Muslim vote in a constituency with a significant Muslim population. The competition between Mulla and Ahwad is expected to make the election challenging for Jitendra Ahwad, who is aligned with Sharad Pawar’s faction of NCP.
The name of sitting MLA Nawab Malik is not in this list of NCP. There were preparations to field his daughter in his place. NCP had also fixed the date for his nomination, but later it was withdrawn and now his name is not in the list, in such a situation speculations are being made that the party may sideline the Malik family.
Sitting MLAs got tickets
Ajit Pawar, Dilip Walse Patil, Dhananjay Munde, Narhari Jhirwal, Aditi Tatkare, Hasan Mushrif and Anil Patil are mostly names of sitting MLAs. They have been given tickets from their own seats. Earlier, Ajit Pawar’s son Parth was to be fielded from Baramati seat, but Ajit himself is contesting from his own seat and Parth Pawar’s name has not been announced for any seat.
Chhagan Bhujbal has been fighting from the Yevla seat, but after being targeted during the Maratha agitation, it remains to be seen how much of a challenge this seat will pose for him because Bhujbal was opposing the granting of reservation from OBC to Marathas.
Two rebel Congress leaders get tickets
Ajit Pawar has given tickets to two rebels of Congress. After sitting Congress MLA from Amravati Sulabha Khodke joined Ajit Pawar’s party NCP, there were speculations that she might get a ticket once again and finally Ajit Pawar has given her a ticket and made her the party’s candidate from Amravati.
At the same time, former Congress MLA Hiraman Khonskar had recently joined NCP Ajit faction, Ajit Pawar has also given him a ticket from Igatpuri seat of Nashik.
NCP’s full list of candidates
| Constituency | Candidate Name |
| Baramati | Ajit Pawar |
| Yeola | Chhagan Bhujbal |
| Ambegaon | Dilip Valse Patil |
| Kagal | Hasan Mushrif |
| Parli | Dhananjay Munde |
| Dindori | Narhari Jhirwal |
| Aheri | Dharmarao Baba Atram |
| Shrivardhan | Aditi Tatkare |
| Amalner | Anil Bhaidas Patil |
| Udgir | Sanjay Bansode |
| Arjuni Morgao | Rajkumar Badole |
| Majalgaon | Prakash Dada Solanke |
| Wai | Makarand Patil |
| Sinnar | Manikrao Kokate |
| Chhed Alandi | Dilip Mohite |
| Ahmednagar City | Sangram Jagtap |
| Indapur | Dattatraya Bharne |
| Ahmedpur | Babasaheb Patil |
| Shahapur | Daulat Daroda |
| Pimpri | Anna Bansode |
| Kalvan | Nitin Pawar |
| Kopargaon | Ashutosh Kale |
| Akole | Kiran Lahamte |
| Basmat |
Chandrakant alias Raju Navghare
|
| Chiplun | Shekhar Nikam |
| Maval | Sunil Shelke |
| Junnar | Atul Benke |
| Mohol | Yashwant Vithal Mane |
| Hadapsar | Chetan Tupe |
| Devlali | Saroj Ahire |
| Chandgad | Rajesh Patil |
| Igatpuri | Hiraman Khoskar |
| Tumsar | Raju Karemore |
| Pusad | Indranil Naik |
| Amravati City | Sulabha Khodke |
| Navapur | Bharat Gavit |
| Pathri | Nirmala Uttamrao Vitekar |
| Mumbra Kalwa | Najeeb Mulla |
