The Congress on Saturday released its third list of 16 candidates for Maharashtra Assembly elections fielding Sachin Sawant and Manikrao Thakare.  Earlier in the day, the Congress party revealed its second list of candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections scheduled for November 20. The announcements follow a meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee, which deliberated on the candidates for the polls. The party has now declared a total of 87 candidates in total.

The Central Election Committee of the party announced the following candidates and their respective constituencies:

• Rana Dalipkumar Sanada – Khamgaon (Constituency No. 26)
• Dr. Hemant Nanda Chimote – Melghat – ST (Constituency No. 41)
• Manohar Tulshiram Poreti – Gadchiroli – ST (Constituency No. 68)
• Manikrao Thakare – Digras (Constituency No. 79)
• Mohanrao Marotrao Ambade – Nanded South (Constituency No. 87)
• Nivruttirao Kondiba Kamble – Deglur – SC (Constituency No. 90)
• Hanmantrao Venjaktrao Patil Betmogarekar – Mukhed (Constituency No. 91)
• Ejaj Beg Ajij Beg – Malegaon Central (Constituency No. 114)
• Shirishkumar Vasantrao Kotwal – Chandvad (Constituency No. 118)
• Lakhibhau Bhika Jadhav – Iqatpuri – ST (Constituency No. 127)
• Dayanand Motiram Choraghe – Bhiwandi West (Constituency No. 136)
• Sachin Sawant – Andheri West (Constituency No. 165)
• Asif Zakaria – Vandre West (Constituency No. 177)
• Kuldeep Dhiraj Appasaheb Kdam Patil – Tuljapur (Constituency No. 241)
• Rajesh Bharat Latkar – Kolhapur North (Constituency No. 276)
• Prithviraj Gulabrao Patil – Sangli (Constituency No. 282)

कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्री @kharge की अध्यक्षता में आयोजित ‘केंद्रीय चुनाव समिति’ की बैठक में महाराष्ट्र विधानसभा चुनाव के लिए कांग्रेस उम्मीदवारों की तीसरी लिस्ट। pic.twitter.com/0nrRV7gcPz

— Congress (@INCIndia) October 26, 2024

Maharashtra Polls: Congress Second Candidate List Of 23 Candidates

The second list retains sitting MLA Kailash Gorantyal from Jalna and introduces Anuja Kedar, the wife of disqualified party leader Sunil Kedar, as the candidate for the Saoner seat in Nagpur district. Sunil Kedar has been barred from contesting elections for six years due to his conviction in the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB) scam.

Senior party leader and former Deputy Speaker Vasant Purke, who lost in the 2019 elections, will contest again from Ralegaon in Yavatmal, while Shivajirao Moghe has stepped aside for his son Jitendra to contest from the Arni seat in Yavatmal.

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In Mumbai, the Congress has fielded Kalu Badheliya for the Kandivali East seat, Ganesh Yadav for Sion Koliwada, and Yashwant Singh for Charkop. Suresh Bhoyar will challenge state BJP chief Chandrashekar Bawankule at Kamptee (Nagpur), and in Wardha, the party has nominated Shekhar Shende, the son of the late former assembly speaker Pramod Shende.

Following the CEC meeting, party leader Ramesh Chennithala addressed reporters, stating that the Congress CEC discussed the remaining seats in Maharashtra. “The MVA is contesting unitedly, and we have no differences. We will fight together to realise the dreams of the people of Maharashtra. We are confident that the MVA will form the government,” he asserted.

PCC chief Nana Patole expressed optimism about the MVA’s performance in the assembly polls, stating that the coalition is prepared to secure a full majority. Congress General Secretary K. C. Venugopal echoed these sentiments in a post on X, declaring, “We, the MVA, are all set to sweep the upcoming assembly elections,” and shared images from the CEC meeting.

In the first list, the Congress fielded candidates such as Patole from Sakoli, former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan from Karad South, and Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar from Brahmapuri.