Maharashtra polls: I will get elected by good margin, says Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will file his nomination on Friday as a BJP candidate from Nagpur South West Assembly constituency, for Maharashtra Election 2024. Fadnavis has exuded confidence and said that he would get elected with a good margin.

"This is my 6th election. But, just like I had people's blessings in the last 5 elections, I will have blessings this time too and I will get elected with a good margin," said the Dy CM.

Fadnavis' family applied tilak on his forehead and performed aarti ahead of his filing nomination.

Earlier on Thursday, Devendra Fadnavis exuded confidence in the Mahayuti alliance's victory in the upcoming elections and said the people of the state are aware of the developmental work done by them in the state.

He said, "Our agenda is strong. The people have seen our work and the speed with which we have done various developmental work. We will contest the elections on that only."

Maharashtra assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with the counting for all 288 assembly constituencies to be held on November 23.

The main electoral contest is between two alliances; the ruling Mahayuti alliance - comprising of the BJP along with Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) - comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress. Both the factions have intensified their preparations as the polling dates draw near.

Earlier, Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) released its first list of candidates, with deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar contesting from Baramati.

In the 2019 assembly elections in Maharashtra, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena secured 56, and Congress won 44 seats.

Earlier oN Thursday, a crucial meeting was held in Delhi between Home Minister Amit Shah and leaders of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance.Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Praful Patel, and Sunil Tatkare, among others, attended the meeting.

All three parties had already released their initial lists of candidates, but 106 seats remained unannounced. Among these, 20 to 25 seats were contentious, with claims from all three parties. This meeting aimed to address these disputes.According to sources, to resolve the seat allocation issues, the constituent parties of the Mahayuti will swap some seats.

The BJP is expected to leave certain seats for the NCP, while Eknath Shinde will also concede some seats that the Shiv Sena contested in 2019.Most seats were agreed upon in the meeting with Amit Shah, though a few remain undecided. It was concluded that decisions regarding these remaining seats will depend on which party will likely win, with leaders from all three parties meeting in Mumbai to finalise the arrangements.