NCP releases first list of 18 candidates

Within hours of finalising seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today declared candidates for 18 seats out of the 22 it would contest in Maharashtra in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

NCP state unit president RR Patil declared the names of candidates late in the evening. Udyanraje Bhosle and Sambhajiraje Bhosle have been given tickets from Satara and Kolhapur, respectively. As expected, the names of party president Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule are in the first list of candidates. While Pawar will contest from the Madha constituency in Solapur district, he has left the pocket borough of Baramati for Supriya.

 

Another prominent name in the list includes Sameer Bhujbal, nephew of Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who will contest from Nashik. Sameer’s ticket was almost a forgone conclusion as Nashik is considered a Bhujbal bastion.