Tatkare for Raigad, Adhalrao for Shirur; Baramati candidate to be announced on March 28

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday announced two candidates for upcoming Lok Sabha polls, naming Sunil Tatkare for the Raigad seat and Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil from Shirur. Pawar however did not announce the candidate for Baramati even as he maintained that the ‘name that reporters have in their mind’ won’t change.

In Baramati, Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra is likely to contest on party nomination against sitting MP Supriya Sule of NCP (SCP). There were speculations a day before that Rashtriya Samaj Paksha Mahadev Jankar may fight polls from Baramati after he joined the Mahayuti (grand alliance) even as NCP leaders denied the rumours.

Speaking to reporters in Pune, Pawar said, “Maha Yuti will announce all 48 seats in Maharashtra on March 28. Almost 99 per cent seat sharing talks are over and there are no differences among alliance partners. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and I will jointly announce all the seats on Thursday, March 28.”

Ajit Pawar then announced NCP state unit chief Sunil Tatkare’s name for the Raigad seat while in the evening, he announced Adhalrao’s name for Shirur as the latter joined the party at Manchar.

When asked about Baramati’s seat, Pawar said, “Let us wait till March 28 and keep that name as suspense. There are a few names taking rounds in the media. The name that you have in mind will be revealed on March 28.”

Earlier in the day, Pawar held a meeting with party MPs and MLAs at Pune to discuss the strategy for Lok Sabha polls. He later spoke with the media. The NCP, according to sources from the party, may fight for seven seats including one from Lakshadweep. Earlier last week, BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde announced that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will extend complete support to the NCP (Ajit Pawar) candidate from Lakshadweep.

“There were rumours in the media that NCP has got fewer seats in the seat-sharing arrangement, but it was misleading. We are getting enough seats in the alliance. We had a positive discussion with our allies, and we are happy with the talk so far,” Ajit Pawar said when asked how many seats his party is likely to contest.

Pawar evaded a direct reply to a query on the number of seats the NCP will contest from Maharashtra, which will vote in five phases starting April 19.”Out of the total 48 seats in the state, the BJP has MPs in 23 constituencies, Shiv Sena (undivided) had 18 sitting MPs but some of them are with Shiv Sena (UBT),” he added.

Notably, overlapping claims on certain seats by constituent parties from the Mahayuti alliance as well as the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi. have delayed the formal announcement of respective seat-sharing formulas.

Adhalrao’s switch

Shiv Sena leader Shivajirao Adhalrao joined Ajit Pawar-led NCP on Tuesday. Adhalrao will be the party candidate from Shirur where he is likely to lock horns with Amol Kolhe of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP.

Pawar said, “Elections are being fought to win. We are trying to field candidates who will emerge victorious. Considering this, we chose Adhalrao from Shirur.”

(with agency inputs)