Chavan, Thorat among 101 candidates to file papers so far

Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan and state Congress president Balasaheb Thorat are among 101 candidates who have so far filed their nomination papers from 63 assembly segments for the October 21 polls, an EC official said on Monday.

The last date of filing nomination papers as announced by the Election Commission (EC) is October 4, while the date for their scrutiny is October 5. Nominations can be withdrawn till October 7.

Maharashtra has a total of 288 assembly seats.

"Local returning officers across the 36 districts of Maharashtra have received 126 nominations from 101 candidates in 63 assembly segments.

"Some candidates have submitted more than one nomination as a precaution," said Dileep Shinde, additional Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra.

Earlier on Monday, Chavan held a rally and submitted his nomination as the Congress candidate from the Bhokar assembly segment in Nanded district.

He was accompanied by his wife Amita Sharma-Chavan, the sitting Congress MLA from Bhokar.

Thorat submitted his nomination from Sangamner in Ahmednagar district.

Though the Shiv Sena has issued 'AB' form (which mentions the official party candidate) to its sitting MLAs as well as to some candidates, no major leader has submitted nomination so far.

Kolhapur, where the Sena has given AB form to Sanjay Ghatge, may become a bone of contention with the ally BJP, which is planning to field Samarjitsinh Ghatge from the seat.

Ghatge was recently appointed chairman of Pune unit of state-run housing board MHADA.

His close aides confirmed he resigned from his post on Monday after learning about the Sena fielding Ghatge from the Kagal assembly seat in Kolhapur district.

Senior NCP leader and former labour minister Hasan Mushrif is the sitting MLA from Kagal, a seat he is representing in the assembly for more than a decade.