Maharashtra polls: Congress' first list likely on Oct 20; BJP's in a week

The power struggle between the two coalitions, Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi, and among the six parties within the alliances is expected to shape an interesting election battle in Maharashtra

Maharashtra Assembly elections: The Congress party is expected to release its first list of candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra elections on Sunday. The party has cleared the names of 62 contestants for various Assembly constituencies in the state.

It will also contest the Nanded Lok Sabha by-election, set to be held alongside Assembly polls on November 20. All 288 constituencies in Maharashtra will go to polls in a single phase, and the counting of votes will be done on November 23.

On Wednesday, the party held a key meeting at Delhi's Himachal Bhawan to chalk out its poll strategy for Maharashtra after facing a shocking defeat in Haryana earlier this month. The meeting was attended by state in-charge Ramesh Chennithala, president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee Nana Patole, Balasaheb Thorat, among others.

After the meeting, Chennithala said, “We will have one more meeting on October 20 and everything will be finalised.”

Two coalitions, six parties, two splits to shape Maharashtra polls

The party will contest the polls as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, which also includes Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) (Sharad Pawar faction). On the other hand, the ruling coalition of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), and NCP (Ajit Pawar) will seek to retain its rule by securing a public mandate this time.

Notably, the ruling Mahayuti alliance came into power in Maharashtra after the Thackeray government was ousted in June 2022 due to a rebellion triggered by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The incident had caused a split in Shiv Sena, a situation that repeated itself a year later when Ajit Pawar similarly split from the NCP.

The intense power struggle between the two coalitions and among the six parties within the alliances is expected to shape an interesting election battle in Maharashtra.

The BJP is also likely to release its list of candidates within a week. The party held a key meeting for the same in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and senior leaders, including Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bhupender Yadav, on Wednesday