Sena names candidates for 'tussle-free' seats

The Shiv Sena on Sunday announced its candidates for some seats for the Maharashtra polls scheduled for October 21.

The Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party are in the midst of some hard- nosed seat-sharing talks and sources in the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said the names announced on Sunday were for those seats over which there was no tussle.

Maharashtra minister of state for home Deepak Kesarkar will contest from Sawantwadi in Konkan's Sindhudurg while Rajesh Kshirsagar will fight the polls from Kolhapur city, Sena sources said.

While it was believed that the Sena and the BJP would fight an equal number of seats for the 288-member House and leave a fraction for smaller allies, the seat-sharing talks have been uneasy with no agreement on the formula.

While the BJP wants a bigger share, on the back of its spectacular performance in the April-May Lok Sabha polls, the Sena is not willing to play ball, said sources from both parties.

Cong releases 1st list of 51 candidates, ex-CM Ashok Chavan fielded from Bhokar

The Congress on Sunday released its first list of 51 candidates for the Maharashtra assembly elections, fielding former chief minister Ashok Chavan from the Bhokar constituency and state party chief Vijay Balasaheb Thorat from Sangamner.

Former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's son Amit has been fielded from the Latur City seat, while ex-home minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter Praniti will contest from the Solapur City Central seat.

Senior party leader Nitin Raut, who heads the party's SC department, has been fielded from the Nagpur North (reserved) constituency.

The list of candidates was finalised after the party's Central Election Committee met under the chairmanship of party chief Sonia Gandhi and cleared the names.

The assembly elections in Maharashtra will be held on October 21 and results will be out on October 24.