The Congress Party has nearly finalized its list of 30 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections and an announcement is imminent. The Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress has finalized seven names from Maharashtra, while readying 15 for Gujarat and about 6-7 for Rajasthan. Praniti Shinde, daughter of former Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, is considered a confirmed choice for Solapur, Maharashtra.
Moreover, from Gujarat's Anand, Amit Chavda, Sukhram Rathwa from Chhota Udaipur, Tushar Chaudhary from Sabarkantha, Paresh Dhanani from Rajkot, and Gulab Singh Chauhan from Panchmahal have been confirmed. In Maharashtra, consensus has been reached on just seven seats, with discussions over the remaining seats to take place in the CEC meeting scheduled for 3:30 PM Thursday.
Favorites for Maharashtra seats include Praniti Shinde from Solapur, Shahu Maharaj from Kolhapur, Ravindra Dhangekar from Pune, Vikas Thakre from Nagpur, Shivaji Kalge from Latur, Vasant Chavan from Nanded, KC Padavi from Nandurbar, and Balwant Wankhede from Amravati. Decision pending for Gadchiroli, Ramtek, with discussion ongoing for Nana Patole's nomination; debate continues for Chandrapur candidates Dhanoarkar and Shivani Vadettiwar, with no finalization yet. In Sangli, both Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) and Congress are interested in the seat, further discussions with Shiv Sena are scheduled for tomorrow before finalizing.
For Gujarat, ten candidates have been finalized including former lawmaker Sukhram Rathwa, former Union Minister Tushar Chaudhary for Sabarkantha, former lawmaker Paresh Dhanani for Rajkot, and Amit Chavda, leader of the assembly legislative party, for Anand amongst others. Congress has declared seven candidates in Gujarat so far, with Rohan Gupta returning his ticket from Navsari. Discussions continue for the remaining seats of Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Junagadh, Surendranagar, Jamnagar, Vadodara, and Ahmedabad East. Congress is contesting on 24 seats and has allocated 2 to AAP.
Only one voting phase in Gujarat on May 7, while Maharashtra will undergo voting in the first five phases:Phase 1: April 19Phase 2: April 26Phase 3: May 7Phase 4: May 13Phase 5: May 20
This time, the political equations have significantly changed in Maharashtra over the last five years. The rift in Shiv Sena has resulted in two factions, and NCP too has split into different segments with Ajit Pawar's faction recognized as the real NCP.
According to the Election Commission's results announcement for Maharashtra, BJP-Shiv Sena alliance has won 41 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats. While BJP secured victories in 23 seats, its partner, Shiv Sena, triumphed in 18, marginally down from their previous total of 42 seats in 2014.
