Monday, May 20

Lok Sabha Polls: Sharad Pawar-Led NCP Releases Third List Of Candidates

Edited by Akhil Thomas
Lok Sabha Polls: Sharad Pawar-Led NCP Releases Third List Of Candidates (Image: X/@PawarSpeaks)

With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP) has released the third list of candidates. On Wednesday, April 10, the party announced the names of candidates for two Lok Sabha constituencies.

As per the third list, the current member of the Legislative Council (MLC), Shashikant Shinde, is the party candidate from the Satara Lok Sabha constituency. Meanwhile, Shriram Patil will contest from the Raver constituency in north Maharashtra.

Notably, earlier there were reports that senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan may contest the elections from the Satara seat in western Maharashtra. According to an Economic Times report, the former state chief minister had refused to contest on the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) symbol.

The Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP is contesting on 10 seats in Maharashtra. With the latest announcement, the party has named candidates for nine out of 10 seats in the electorally crucial state. On April 9, the Maha Vikas Aghadi has finalised the seat-sharing formula. As per this formula, the Shiv Sena (UBT) will be contesting 21 Lok Sabha seats, and the Congress will field its candidates in 17 seats in Maharashtra.

Three parties have arrived at a pact for the five-phase general elections after weeks of intense negotiations. Maharashtra comprises 48 Lok Sabha constituencies, and the polling will be held in five phases from April 19 to May 20. The counting of votes will be on June 4. The state is all set to witness a close contest between Mahayuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi. The Mahayuti alliance comprises the BJP, Shiv Sena, and Nationalist Congress Party.