Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Wednesday released its first list of 17 candidates in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha elections 2024, which will be held in seven phases, beginning from April 19.
The list includes Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai, who has been fielded by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction from Mumbai South-Central constituency. His Rajya Sabha tenure is likely to end on April 3.
The party has nominated sitting MP Arvind Sawant from the Mumbai-South constituency, Sanjay Patil from Mumbai North-East and Amol Kirtikar from the Mumbai North-West constituency.
The other names in the list included Rajan Vichare from Thane, Vinayak Raut from Ratnagiri Sindhudurg, Sanjay Jadhav from Parbhani and Omraje Nimbalkar from Osmanabad.
According to sources, the Thackeray-led Sena, which is part of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, is expected to contest 22 seats in the state.
However, the MVA has not yet finalised its seat-sharing pact. It is being said that the MVA constituents – Congress, NCP (SCP) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena – have not been able to build consensus on four seats.
Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, second highest after Uttar Pradesh (80). The state will vote in five of the seven phases starting from April 17.