Mumbai: With the polling dates for Maharashtra assembly elections 2024 nears, the political parties have started announcing candidates. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Monday announced that Avinash Jadhav and Raju Patil will contest the assembly polls from Thane and Kalyan Rural respectively. He said this during a party program in Thane. The official list of the party is expected to be released on today (Tuesday, October 22).
Speaking at the event, the MNS chief said, he would accompany Jadhav and Patil to fill the election nomination forms on October 24. "We are giving finishing touches on our candidate list," Thackeray added.
As per reports, the first list of MNS would include candidates for prominent seats in Mumbai, Pune and Nashik. It is likely Raj Thackeray's son, Amit would enter the electoral politics this assembly polls and is expected to be fielded from Mumbai's Mahim seat. In the past, senior MNS leader Nitin Sardesai was fielded from Mahim.
The other candidates expected to be included in the MNS list are: Bala Nandgaonkar from Sewri, Shalini Thackeray from Versova, Snehal Jadhav Wadala, Baban Mahadik from Colaba, Sandeep Deshpande from Worli, Lalit Dhuri from Andheri West and Nayan Kadam from Magathane.
Raj Thackeray has extended unconditional support to the Mahayuti, which consists of BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. However, the MNS has not joined the Mahayuti alliance officially. It is likely that MNS will field candidates against the Shiv Sena (UBT).
One of the hot constituencies where a fierce battle between MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT) is expected is Mumbai Worli's constituency. Aaditya Thackeray is the sitting MLA from Worli and most probably will be renominated.
