Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024: Nominations close, seat-sharing agreements become clear

The nominations for the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections finished on Oct 29. With that, the picture of seat-sharing agreements between the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the ruling Mahayuti is now evident.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is contesting the most assembly seats of any of the six main parties, with 148, whereas Congress has put forward 103 candidates in the crucial polls. 80 candidates were fielded by the Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

For the elections to the 288-member state assembly on Nov 20, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's NCP put forth 53 candidates. Five seats were awarded to other Mahayuti allies.

The Congress put up candidates for 103 seats in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). The Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray, put forward 89 candidates, while the NCP (SP) presented 87.

Three assembly constituencies remain unclear, and six seats were awarded to other MVA allies.

For the 288 assembly seats, about 8,000 candidates have submitted their nominations, including members of the major opposition and ruling political parties.

According to a statement released by the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) office, 10,905 nominations have been submitted by 7,995 candidates to the Election Commission (EC) for the Nov 20 elections.

Filing of nominations by candidates began on Oct 22, and the process ended on Oct 29. The verification and scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on Oct 30, and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is Nov 4 (until 3 pm).