Maharashtra polls: Congress releases 3rd list with 16 candidates

Mumbai, Oct 27 (IANS) The Congress on Saturday announced its third list of 16 candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, fielding Sachin Sawant and Manikrao Thakare.

The third list was released after a Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting chaired by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.

The Central Election Committee of the party announced the following candidates and their respective constituencies:

Rana Dalipkumar Sanada - Khamgaon (Constituency No. 26)

Hemant Nanda Chimote - Melghat - ST (Constituency No. 41)

Manohar Tulshiram Poreti - Gadchiroli - ST (Constituency No. 68)

Manikrao Thakare - Digras (Constituency No. 79)

Mohanrao Marotrao Ambade - Nanded South (Constituency No. 87)

Nivruttirao Kondiba Kamble - Deglur - SC (Constituency No. 90)

Hanmantrao Venjaktrao Patil Betmogarekar - Mukhed (Constituency No. 91)

Ejaj Beg Ajij Beg - Malegaon Central (Constituency No. 114)

Shirishkumar Vasantrao Kotwal - Chandvad (Constituency No. 118)

Lakhibhau Bhika Jadhav - Iqatpuri - ST (Constituency No. 127)

Dayanand Motiram Choraghe - Bhiwandi West (Constituency No. 136)

Sachin Sawant - Andheri West (Constituency No. 165)

Asif Zakaria - Vandre West (Constituency No. 177)

Kuldeep Dhiraj Appasaheb Kdam Patil - Tuljapur (Constituency No. 241)

Rajesh Bharat Latkar - Kolhapur North (Constituency No. 276)

Prithviraj Gulabrao Patil - Sangli (Constituency No. 282)

With this announcement, Congress has named candidates for 87 constituencies in Maharashtra. The first list featured 48 candidates, while the second and third lists included 23 and 16 candidates, respectively.

Maharashtra Congress had earlier in the day announced the second list of candidates, retaining sitting MLA Kailash Gorantyal from Jalna and fielding party leader Sunil Kedar's wife Anuja from the Saoner seat.

The list came after the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) met and discussed the names of the candidates for the polls. Rahul Gandhi has reportedly been upset due to "favouritism" shown in shortlisting the candidates by the screening committee.

This comes a day after the first list, which comprised 48 candidates, was announced by the grand old party. Senior Congress leaders Prithviraj Chavan and Nana Patole were named in the first list. Congress fielded former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan from Karad South, while former minister Nitin Raut was once again fielded from Nagpur North.

Maharashtra will go to polls in a single phase on November 20, while the results will be released on November 23.

During the Lok Sabha election, Congress won 13 of the 17 seats allocated to it in Maharashtra. The party aims to continue the success streak in the upcoming Assembly polls.

On the other hand, among the three partners in the MahaYuti alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Ajit Pawar's NCP have each released two candidate lists, while Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena has issued one list thus far.

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