Mumbai: The BJP has released a list of star campaigners for the Maharashtra assembly elections. The list includes the names of PM Narendra Modi, Union Ministers JP Nadda, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, among other leaders.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections will be held on November 20, and votes will be counted on November 23. The term of the current assembly will end on November 26.
Maharashtra has 288 Assembly seats, and the BJP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance alongside the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. The Mahayuti alliance will contest the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress. Both the alliances have intensified their preparations for the upcoming polls.
RSS has intensified its campaign: Reports
According to reports, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is also working round-the-clock to help the BJP make significant gains in the Maharashtra polls after the party’s debacle in the last Lok Sabha polls.
In August, before the upcoming state polls were announced, the RSS had appointed Atul Limaye, the Joint General Secretary (sah-sarkaryavah) and the third-highest ranking member in the RSS hierarchy, as a coordinator for Maharashtra.
Since then, Limaye has held several meetings with the state BJP leadership in Nagpur, Mumbai and Pune, the Deccan Herald reported.
RSS intensified its campaign after the BJP’s seats were reduced to nine in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from the earlier tally of 23 that it won in 2014 and 2019.
Congress releases second list of candidates
Meanwhile, the Congress on Saturday announced its second list of candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, two days after it released its first list.
The party, will be contesting on at least 85 seats in the polls as the opposition’s Maha Vikas Aghadi, has decided on the 85-85-85 seat sharing formula for the grand alliance that also has Sharad Pawar’s NCP and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena.
