Mumbai: Congress on Thursday released its first list of 48 candidates for Maharashtra assembly elections. This list includes prominent leaders and new faces, with several prominent families fielding candidates.
Among the notable names is Dheeraj Deshmukh, the son of former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who has been nominated to contest from Latur Rural. His brother, Amit Deshmukh, will run from Latur City. The son of senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat, Vijay Thorat, has been nominated from Sangamner.
These names in 1st list of Congress
Former minister Aslam Sheikh has been given a ticket to contest from Malad West. In Dharavi, Dr Jyoti Gaikwad, the sister of Varsha Gaikwad, has been nominated. Meanwhile, Naseem Khan, another former minister, has been nominated for the Chandivali seat, where he will face a tough contest against Dilip Lande of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena party.
The Election Commission has scheduled the elections for November 20, 2024, to fill all 288 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly. Congress is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which also includes the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar. Both Shiv Sena (Uddhav) and NCP have already released their first lists of candidates. However, there is ongoing tension within the alliance regarding seat-sharing arrangements.
The Congress list features both incumbents and new candidates. Many current Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) have been given a chance to contest again, while new faces have been introduced in some constituencies. This delay in the announcement of candidates is largely due to disagreements over seat-sharing among the MVA partners. Final decisions on some seats are still pending.
The list includes key names like former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who will contest from Karad South, and Dr. Vishwajit Patangrao Kadam, who has been given a ticket from Palus-Kadegaon. Additionally, Syed Muzaffar Hussain will contest from Mira Bhayander, and Sangram Thopte from Bhor.
With elections approaching, Congress is looking to strengthen its presence in Maharashtra through a mix of experienced leaders and fresh faces, in an effort to regain influence in the state.
Full list of candidates
| S.No. | Constituency | Candidate Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kalkuwa | KC Padvi |
| 2 | Shahada | Rajendra Kumar Krishnarao Gavit |
| 3 | Nandurbar | Kiran Damodar Tadvi |
| 4 | Navapur | Shri Krishna Kumar Surup Singh Naik |
| 5 | Sakri (ST) | Pravinbapu Chourey |
| 6 | Dhule Rural | Kunal Rohidas Patil |
| 7 | Raver | Dhananjay Shirish Choudhary |
| 8 | Malkapur | Rajesh Panditrao Akade |
| 9 | Chikhali | Rahul Siddhivinayak Bondre |
| 10 | Risod | Amit Subhashrao Janak |
| 11 | Dhamangaon Railway | Prof. Virendra Valmikrao Jagtap |
| 12 | Amravati | Dr. Sunil Deshmukh |
| 13 | Teosa | Yashomati Chandrakant Thakur |
| 14 | Achalpur | Aniruddha Bablubhau Subhanrao Deshmukh |
| 15 | Deoli | Ranjit Pratap Kamble |
| 16 | Nagpur South West | Prafulla Vinod Rao Guddhe |
| 17 | Nagpur Central | Bunty Baba Shelke |
| 18 | Nagpur West | Vikas P. Thackeray |
| 19 | Nagpur North (SC) | Dr. Nitin Kashinath Raut |
| 20 | Sakoli | Nanabhau Falgunrao Patole |
| 21 | Gondia | Gopaldas Shankarlal Agarwal |
| 22 | Rajura | Subhash Ramchandrarao Dhote |
| 23 | Brahmapuri | Vijay Namdevrao Wadettiwar |
| 24 | Chimur | Satish Manoharrao Warzucker |
| 25 | Hadgaon | Madhavrao Nivrutrao Pawar Patil |
| 26 | Bhokar | Tirupati Rao Babu Kadam Kondekar |
| 27 | Naigaon | Meenal Niranjan Patil (Khatgaonkar) |
| 28 | Pathri | Suresh Ambadas Varpudkar |
| 29 | Fulambari | Vilas Keshavrao Autade |
| 30 | Mira Bhayander | Syed Muzaffar Hussain |
| 31 | Malad West | Aslam R. Shaikh |
| 32 | Chandivali | Mohammad Arif Naseem Khan |
| 33 | Dharavi | Dr. Jyoti Eknath Gaikwad |
| 34 | Mumbadevi | Amin Amirali Patel |
| 35 | Purandar | Sanjay Chandrakant Jagtap |
| 36 | Bhor | Sangram Anantrao Thopte |
| 37 | Kasba Peth | Ravindra Hemraj Dhangekar |
| 38 | Sangamner | Vijay Balasaheb Thorat |
| 39 | Shirdi | Prabhavati J. Ghogre |
| 40 | Latur Rural | Dheeraj Vilasrao Deshmukh |
| 41 | Latur City | Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh |
| 42 | Akkalkot | Siddharam Satlingappa Mhatre |
| 43 | Karad South | Prithviraj Chavan |
| 44 | Kolhapur South | Ruturaj Sanjay Patil |
| 45 | Karveer | Rahul Pandurang Patil |
| 46 | Hatkanangle | Raju Jayantrao Awale |
| 47 | Palus-Kadegaon | Dr. Vishwajit Patangrao Kadam |
| 48 | Jat | Vikram Singh Balasaheb Sawant |
