- By Mayukh Debnath
- Wed, 30 Oct 2024 12:32 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Maharashtra Polls: The deadline to file nominations for Maharashtra Assembly election 2024 came to an end on Tuesday. By Monday, a total of 4,426 nomination papers were filed by 3,259 candidates, according to the office of Maharashtra's Chief Election Officer. All 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra are slated to go to the polls in a single phase on November 20. The counting of votes is scheduled for November 23.
The Mahayuti alliance, a subset of the country's ruling NDA, is up against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) opposition bloc, which comprises the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar. The Mahayuti, comprised of the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena (Shinde) and Ajit Pawar's NCP, was yet to declare its candidates for four seats, NDTV reported on Tuesday evening.
Similarly, the MVA was yet to announce the names of candidates for 11 seats, as per NDTV. Meanwhile, news agency PTI noted that the exact number of candidates fielded by each constituent of the Mahayuti and MVA coalitions could not be reconciled as some parties had given nomination forms to two candidates in certain constituencies.
However, as per NDTV's tally, the BJP, NCP (Ajit Pawar) and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) had fielded 152, 52, and 80 candidates respectively by the end of the nomination deadline. The tally put the number of candidates fielded by the Congress at 103, and by the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) at 87 each.
The three major MVA constituents had reached an agreement for 85 seats each (255). Additionally, the parties had arrived at a loose understanding on another 15 seats, and the remaining 18 were reserved for distribution among smaller allies, including the Samajwadi Party (SP).
(With inputs from agencies)