Maha Elections: Sharad Pawar's Grandnephew To Take On Uncle Ajit; Baba Siddique's Son Joins NCP

With less than a month left for the much-awaited assembly elections Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) on Thursday announced the candidature of Yugendra Pawar against his uncle and Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar from Baramati as the party released its first list of 45 candidates. 32-year-old Yugendra is the son of Ajit Pawar's younger brother Shrinivas Pawar.

As per the schedule shared by the Election Commission of India (ECI), Maharashtra is slated to go for polls on November 20 while the results will be announced on November 23.

On Thursday, the party's State President Jayant Patil announced the first list of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidates at a press conference where he mentioned that Yugendra was selected as a candidate on the demand of the people of Baramati.

"I interacted with local people and party workers. According to them, Yugendra is a new face and can take everyone along. We thought he would be the best choice from our side. The way people are supporting him, there will be a different result this time," Patil said.

In his reaction to the announcement, Yugendra Pawar said he was thankful to party supremo Sharad Pawar for putting faith in him. Whie adding that he would work with complete dedication, he also pledged to highlight issues in his constituency like water scarcity, unemployment, farmers not getting right prices for their produce etc.

"Corruption is on the rise in Baramati. Crime too is increasing. There are many issues, including the atrocities against women, and we will work on these issues closely," he said.

Others in the NCP (SP) list included its state chief Jayant Patil (Islampur), Jitendra Awhad (Mumbra-Kalwa), Anil Deshmukh (Katol), Harshvardhan Patil (Indapur) and late NCP politician R R Patil's son Rohit Patil who is making a debut (Tasgaon-Kavthemahankal).

Zeeshan Siddique's name in NCP's second list

In another significant development, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in its second list of candidates included the name of Baba Siddique's son and MLA Zeeshan Siddique along with other candidates. Zeeshan, who officially joined NCP today, will contest from Bandra East, which he had won in 2019 on a Congress ticket.

"This is an emotional day for me and my family. I am thankful to Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare for believing in me in these tough times. I have got the nomination from Bandra East, I am sure that with the love and support of all the people, I will definitely win Bandra East ye again...", Zeeshan said.

Over an allegation of cross-voting in the recent legislative council elections, Zeeshan had been suspended from Congress. His father and Congress veteran Baba Siddique had crossed over to the NCP, a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti coalition, earlier this year.

The second list of candidates also included the names of former BJP MP Pratap Chikhalikar and BJP ex-MP Sanjay Kaka Patil, who unsuccessfully contested from Sangli in the general elections.

Patil also joined the party on Friday. He will face off with NCP (SP) candidate Rohit Patil, son of late NCP leader R R Patil, in Tasgaon-Kavathe Mahankal constituency in Sangli district.

Nishikant Patil will take on NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil in Islampur, while Sana Malik, daughter of former minister Nawab Malik, has been nominated from Anushakti Nagar in Mumbai.

NCP has given the ticket to Sunil Tingre from Wadgaon Sheri in Pune. It has picked Dnyaneshwar Katke from Shrirur. Until recently, Katke was the Pune district chief of the Uddhav Thackeray-led NCP (SP).