Cracks began to appear within Mahayutthi’s alliance after the Bharatiya Janata Party announced its first list for the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party recently announced the first batch of 99 candidates. The Shiv Sena of the Sindhi faction expressed opposition to the BJP fielding candidates in four seats in the list.
The four seats where Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena has filed objections include Kalyan East, Thane, Airoli and Murbad seat.
The BJP fielded Sulabha Gaikwad, wife of Ganpat Gaikwad from Kalyan East. The Shiv Sena raised this objection as Ganpat Gaikwad was jailed for allegedly shooting at Shiv Sena leader Mahesh Gaikwad.
Shiv Sena workers oppose Sulabha Gaikwad. He said Donkaryan is the base camp of Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena leaders should be sent from here. He said he would not even campaign for the BJP candidate.
The BJP has offered Sanjay Kelkar a ticket from Thane, which is considered the stronghold of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Shiv Sena workers are also not happy with Sanjay Kelkar’s candidature.
Similarly, the BJP has fielded MPs Shankar Kethore from Murbad and Ganesh Naik from Airoli. There is discontent among Shiv Sena workers too. Frustrated over not getting a ticket, Ganesh Naik’s son Sandeep Naik left the BJP and joined Sharad Pawar’s National Communist Party (NCP).
The Bharatiya Janata Party recently announced the first batch of 99 candidates for the Maharashtra elections. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP state president Chandrashekhar, Ram Kadam and Nitesh Rane Rane’s name was also on the first list. In the first list, the BJP has given tickets to more than 80 sitting MLAs. Five candidates who lost the 2019 election were also given tickets.
Maharashtra elections to be held on November 20
Maharashtra’s 288 assembly seats will go to polls on November 20. Results will be announced on November 23. In the last election, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56 seats, the NCP 54 seats and the Congress 44 seats. However, after the elections, the Shiv Sena broke away from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and formed the government in alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray becomes chief minister.
In June 2022, there was internal discord within the Shiv Sena. Following this, Eknath Shinde sacked 40 MLAs of the party. Eknath Shinde became the chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Now the Shiv Sena is divided into two groups. Sharad Pawar’s NCP was also divided into two factions – Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar.
