Ashok Chavan in Cong list, Sena’s Aaditya in Maha fray
MUMBAI/NEWDELHI: The Congress on Sunday released its first list of 51 candidates for next month’s Maharashtra Assembly elections, fielding former chief minister Ashok Chavan from the Bhokar constituency and state party chief Vijay alias Balasaheb Thorat from Sangamner.
The development came on the day the Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a meeting in New Delhi to finalise its candidates for the assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra.
There were indications at the meeting — attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and working president JP Nadda, among others — that the party’s seat-sharing pact with the Sena in the western state will be announced in a day or two, as per PTI.
Separately, back in Maharashtra, the Sena, which is locked in a tense seat-sharing dialogue with the BJP, announced its candidates for some seats as election deliberations gathered pace.
Capping days of speculation, the Sena decided to field Aaditya Thackeray, the elder son of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, from the Worli assembly constituency in Mumbai. With this, Aaditya became the first member of the Thackeray clan ever to contest an election.
Insiders in the Sena camp also said Maharashtra minister of state for home Deepak Kesarkar will contest from Sawantwadi in Konkan’s Sindhudurg while Rajesh Kshirsagar will fight the polls from Kolhapur city, PTI reported.
In the Opposition camp, the Congress’s list included names of former CM Ashok Chavan, Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat, leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, state legislature leader KC Padvi and all its working presidents — former ministers Arif Naseem Khan, Madhukar Chavan and Ramesh Bagwe — and 23 sitting MLAS.
The party did not re-nominate Prithviraj Chavan, giving an indication that he could be fielded for the Satara Lok Sabha bypolls.
In Mumbai, barring Aslam Shaikh (Malad West), the party re-nominated its sitting MLAS, including Amin Patel (Mumbadevi), Varsha Gaikwad (Dharavi) and Arif Naseem Khan (Chandivli), besides nominating former MLA Ashok Jadhav (Andheri West), former minister Chandrakant Handore (Chembur), spokesperson Bhai Jagtap (Colaba), Mumbai Youth Congress chief Ganesh Yadav and former MLA Baba Siddique’s son Zeeshan Siddique. The party’s sitting Wadala MLA Kalidas Kolambakar had quit the party to join the BJP last month.
Six party MLAS — DS Ahire, Kashiram Pawara, Siddharam Mhetre, Bharat Bhalke, Aslam Shaikh, Rahul Bondre — were not re-nominated in the first list, amidst speculations that they could join the BJP or Shiv Sena soon. The list of candidates was finalised after the party’s Central Election Committee met under the chairmanship of party chief Sonia Gandhi and cleared the names.
The assembly elections for the 288-member House in Maharashtra will be held on October 21 and results will be out on October 24.
Meanwhile, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, after resolving their differences over a few seats, decided to make an official announcement on October 2. “The formal announcement on the alliance, along with all smaller parties, will be done on October 2 jointly,” said Maharashtra Congress chief Thorat. The Congress has exchanged a few seats, including Ghatkopar West and Bhandup, with the NCP. NEWDELHI: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said the Ramayana is a heritage of the entire mankind and called for efforts to preserve, propagate and deepen people’s understanding of the immortal epic.
Asserting that the Ramayana reminds people of their duty towards the world, society, and family, Naidu said it also defines the relationship of human beings with one another, and with mother earth, birds, and animals.
The Ramayana reminds people that one’s pious duty is to work in the larger interest of the society and the country, he said, adding ‘Ram Rajya’ is waiting to be realised. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra’s dance drama ‘SHRIRAM’ in New Delhi, he asked everyone to take small steps daily for common good, such as controlling pollution, saving water or preserving the environment and others to make the world a better place.