Actor Govinda joins Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena ahead of Lok Sabha elections

Veteran Bollywood actor Govinda joined the Shiv Sena on Thursday in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai.

Govinda had earlier met Krishna Hegde, who is a spokesperson for Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, at his residence.

Govinda was born on December 21, 1963. He has acted in over 120 films since his debut in 1986.

In 2004, Govind successfully contested the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat on a Congress ticket, defeating veteran BJP leader Ram Naik. However, he later resigned from the Congress party.

Meanwhile, earlier today, the Shiv Sena (UBT) released its first list of candidates in Maharashtra for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, naming senior leader Anil Desai from the Mumbai South Central parliamentary constituency.

Party leader Sanjay Raut took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share the list of the 17 candidates, namely for Raigad, Ratnagiri, Thane, Parbhani, Buldhana, Yavatmal, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Shirdi, South Mumbai, North West Mumbai, North East Mumbai, Sangli, Hingoli, Dharshiv, Nasik and Maval seats.

Sitting MP Arvind Sawant has been fielded from the South Mumbai seat, with Amol Kirtikar being fielded from the Mumbai North West constituency, a seat once represented by his father, Gajanan Kirtikar. Kirtikar's nomination comes even as the ED on Wednesday issued a summons to him in connection with his alleged involvement in the Khichdi scam.

Maharashtra, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats.