WITH THREE more names in the list announced on Sunday, the BJP has declared its candidates for 23 of the total 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra so far. According to party sources, the BJP is likely to name its candidates for five-six more seats, leaving the rest to its allies — the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Rashtriya Samaj Party.
While the seat-sharing talks are yet to be finalised, sources said the BJP may field up to 29 candidates, Sena (Shinde) may get 12-13 seats, NCP (Ajit Pawar) five to six seats, and the MNS and RSP are likely to get one seat each.
In 2019, the BJP had contested 25 seats, of which it had won 23. It was then in alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray.
In the latest list, the BJP retained two of its sitting MPs, Sunil Baburao Mendhe from Bhandara-Gondia and Ashok Nete from Gadchiroli-Chimur, while picking MLA Ram Satpute from Solapur (SC).
The remaining seats that the BJP has claimed but is yet to announce its candidates for are: Mumbai North Central, Amravati, Mumbai North West, Thane, Dharashiv and Satara.Earlier, the BJP announced 20 candidates from Maharashtra, replacing five existing MPs. The list included Union Ministers Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North) and Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur), and Pankaja Munde, who replaced her sister Preetam Munde from Beed in Marathwada.
Two Union Ministers for State, Dr Bharti Pawar and Kapil Patil, were retained from their existing seats of Dindori (ST) and Bhiwandi respectively. State Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar will contest from Chandrapur in Vidarbha, the lone Maharashtra seat won by the Congress in the 2019 elections.
Among the MPs who were replaced were: Manoj Kotak (Mumbai North East), Anup Dhotre (Akola) – he is bedridden, his son has got the ticket; and Unmesh Patil (Jalgaon).In Pune, the party has fielded city mayor, Muralidhar Mohol; the seat was lying vacant after the death of BJP MP Girish Bapat.