BJP's first list of candidates for Maha polls has Devendra Fadnavis and also Sreejaya Chavan, daughter of former 'Congress CM' Ashok Chavan,

 The names of Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Nitesh Rane also figure in the first list of 99 candidates.

Devendra Fadnavis will contest from Nagpur South West seat and Bawankule has been fielded from Kamthi.  Other prominent leaders named in the list include Ram Kadam from Ghatkopar West, Shweta Mahale Patil from Chikli, Sreejaya Ashok Chavan from Bhokar and Nitish Rane from Kankavli.  

Polling in Maharashtra will take place on Nov 20.  

The counting of votes for election to the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly alon with Jharkhand will take place on November 23.

The BJP, which is in alliance with Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, is coming fresh off the victory in Haryana, where it turned the tables on Congress.

In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election, the BJP and Shiv Sena contested as allies under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), while the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ran as part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance won 161 seats (BJP 105, Shiv Sena 56). The Congress-NCP alliance secured 98 seats (NCP with 54, Congress with 44).

However, despite their pre-poll alliance, Shiv Sena demanded a rotational Chief Minister arrangement, which the BJP refused, leading to a fallout between the two parties. 

This deadlock triggered a political crisis. 

After weeks of negotiations and political maneuvering, the Shiv Sena broke ties with the BJP and formed an alliance with the Congress and NCP, creating the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition. 

Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena became the Chief Minister, marking a significant shift in Maharashtra’s political landscape. The MVA ruled Maharashtra until mid-2022, when internal conflicts triggered by Eknath Shinde’s rebellion led to its downfall.  

In the opposition a mild turmoil has already started. While the coalition the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is yet to announce its candidate for the chief minister’s post, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar hinted at a bigger role for Jayant Patil, sparking speculation about his being a potential CM candidate for the party. Obviously this left the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray camps displeased. 

During the concluding leg of the NCP (SP)’s Shivswarajya Yatra at Islampur in Sangli, Jayant Patil’s home turf, Sharad Pawar said, “It is the wish of people like you and me that Jayant Patil should take on the responsibility of rebuilding tomorrow’s Maharashtra. To realise this, all of you should stand behind him.” 

His remarks received cheers from the crowd.

“As the party chief, I firmly say here that efforts to rebuild tomorrow’s Maharashtra will come from Sangli and there is no doubt in my mind about this,” Pawar added.

Jayant Patil has been a Man Friday for Sharad Pawar all along through turbulent times, notably during the party’s split after Ajit Pawar’s revolt. 

While Pawar stopped short of officially naming him as the party’s CM candidate, this implied endorsement could fuel competition within the MVA, which includes the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress. 

The Shiv Sena (UBT) is already lobbying for Uddhav Thackeray as the alliance’s CM candidate, while Congress leader Nana Patole’s supporters are also advocating for his leadership.