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BJP Fields 2 Congress defectors, Devendra Fadnavis’s PA in third list of 25 candidates

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BJP Fields 2 Congress defectors, Devendra Fadnavis’s PA in third list of 25 candidates

Maharashtra Elections 2024: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday announced its third list of 25 candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, including two former Congress members and personal assistant to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. This latest announcement takes the total number of candidates announced by the BJP to 146 in the 288-member assembly. The polls are scheduled to begin on November 20 and the results will be announced on November 23.

Among the notable nominations is Jitesh Antapurkar, who had earlier won in 2021 by-poll on a Congress ticket and is known to have a close relationship with former chief minister Ashok Chavan, will contest from Deglur constituency. Chavan recently left the Congress to join the BJP and has since been appointed as a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Archana Patil-Chakurkar, daughter-in-law of Congress veteran and former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil, was also fielded from Latur city after joining the BJP from the Congress in March this year.

Sumit Wankhede, who has been Devendra Fadnavis’s personal assistant for several years, will represent the BJP from Arvi constituency. Notably, the BJP had earlier in 2019 given a ticket to former PA Fadnavis Abhimanyu Pawar from Aus, who won the seat and later became an MLC.

In some changes, Borivali MLA Sunil Rane has been replaced by Sanjay Upadhyay and MLC Praveen Datke will contest the Nagpur Central seat. Also, Ashish Deshmukh, son of former Congress state president Ranjit Deshmukh, has received a ticket from Savner in Nagpur constituency. Sitting MLA Bharti Lavekar has been re-nominated to contest from Versova seat in Mumbai.

The third list includes four women candidates: Bharti Lavekar, Archana Patil-Chakurkar, Sneha Dube, who will contest from Vasai seat in Palghar district, and Sai Prakash Dahake, nominated from Karanji in Vashim.

Here is the list of all the BJP candidates announced in the third list for the Maharashtra Assembly elections:

  • Harish Marothirao Pimple – Murtiyapur (SC)

  • Sai Prakash Dahake – Karanja

  • Rajesh Sriram Vankhade – Teosa

  • Umesh (Chandu) Atamaramji Yawalkar – Morshi

  • Sumit Kishore Wankhede – Arvi

  • Charansingh Babulalji Thakur – Katol

  • Ashish Raje Deshmukh – Savner

  • Praveen Prabhakarrao Datke – Nagpur Central

  • Sudhakar Vittalrao Kohale – West Nagpur

  • Dr. Milind Pandurang Mane – North Nagpur (SC)

  • Avinash Anandrao Brahmankar – Sakoli

  • Kishore Gajananrao Horgevar – Chandrapur (SC)

  • Raju Narayan Thodsam – Arnie (ST)

  • Kishan Maruti Wankhede – Umarkhede (SC)

  • Jitesh Raoshaheb Antapurkar – Deglur (SC)

  • Vinod Suresh Medha – Dahanu (ST)

  • Sneha Premnath Dube – Vasai

  • Sanjay Upadhyay – Borivali

  • Bharati Hemant Lavekar – Versova

  • Parag Kishorchandra Shah – East Ghatkopar

  • Suresh Ramchandra Dhas – Ashti

  • Archana Shailesh Patil Chakurkar – Latur City

  • Ram Vittal Satpute – Malshiras (SC)

  • Manoj Bhimrao Ghorpade – Karad North

  • Sangram Sampatrao Deshmukh – Palus Kadegaon

Meanwhile, the party today also nominated Santhuka Marotrao Hambarde as its candidate for the Nanded Lok Sabha by-election.

Maharashtra Elections 2024: BJP’s Second List

The announcement comes after the BJP’s second list of 22 candidates was released on October 26. Renowned personalities like Devayanai Farande from Nashik Central and Prakash Bharsakle from Akot were re-nominated for the second list. It also featured several new candidates replacing sitting legislators like Deorao Holi from Gadchiroli (St. Louis) with Milind Narode.

ALSO READ | Maharashtra polls: BJP releases second list of 22 candidates, nominates MLA Devyani Farande from Nashik Central

Releasing the third list, the BJP announced candidates for 146 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly as it aims to secure a majority in the upcoming elections.