Shiv Sena releases first list of 21 candidates for Lok Sabha polls, fields Arvind Sawant from South Mumbai

The Shiv Sena on Friday released the first list of 21 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections in Maharashtra. The party has fielded Arvind Sawant from South Mumbai and has dropped its sitting MP Ravindra Gaikwad. Sena announced the list of candidates a day after its ally – the Bharatiya Janata Party – announced names of its 16 candidates.

In Mumbai, the party has fielded Rahul Shewale (Mumbai South-Central) and Gajanan Kirtikar (Mumbai North-West). The remaining three Mumbai seats are with ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Under the pre-poll seat-sharing deal, the BJP is contesting on 25 seats and its ally Shiv Sena on 23. There are total 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. 

However, a prominent National Democratic Alliance partner, Republican Party of India (A) President and Union Minister of State for Social Welfare Ramdas Athawale, is now actively lobbying for the Mumbai North-East seat from the BJP quota and another in the state from Shiv Sena's share.

According to senior party leader and Industry Minister Subhash Desai, the party will announce the names of candidates for two other seats - Palghar and Satara - in a couple of days.

From Konkan, the Sena has nominated Rajan Vichare (Thane), Shrikant Shinde (Kalyan), Union minister Anant Geete (Raigad) and Vinayak Raut (Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg).

Elsewhere, the candidates are: Sanjay Mandlik (Kolhapur), Dhairyashil Mane (Hatkanangale), Hemant Godse (Nashik), Sadashiv Lokhande (Shirdi), Shivajirao Adhalrao (Shirur), Chandrakant Khaire (Aurangabad) and Shrirang Barne (Maval).

In eastern Maharashtra, the nominees are: Bhavna Gawli (Yavatmal-Washim), Prataprao Jadhav (Buldhana), Krupal Tumane (Ramtek), Anandrao Adsul (Amravati), Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani), Hemant Patil (Hingoli) and Omraje Nimbalkar (Osmanabad).

With Agency Inputs

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