The Bharatiya Janata Party replaced at least 25 sitting MPs with new faces as the party released its second list of 72 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Wednesday.
Investigations reveal that many of them had been residing in the country for the past six to eight years.
Bharatiya Janata Party Rajya Sabha MP Nitin Gadkari, late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan's daughter Poonam, former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil are a few of the 29 new entrants to the 16th Lok Sabha among the 48 MPs from Maharashtra.
'Earlier, Congress used to contest five seats in Mumbai, leaving only Mumbai North-East to the undivided Nationalist Congress Party. So we were demanding equal seat-sharing this time'
In her statement, Dutt has hailed and thanked her "mentor" United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam stated that his party would not allow any "Khan" to become the mayor of Mumbai, later clarifying that he was referring to an "anti-national mentality" and not a specific community. He cited concerns about radical elements and appeasement politics.
Nikam has replaced two-time MP Poonam Mahajan, who is the daughter of the late BJP stalwart Pramod Mahajan.
This will be the first major electoral test after the political realignment that emerged in 2019.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday evening released its first list of 54 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
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Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of Shiv Sena is keen to contest eight out of the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region with some 'give and take' in the next elections, sources said on Tuesday.
Former MP Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday took a swipe at the Congress leadership over his expulsion, claiming it was done after he sent his resignation letter to the party.
The BJP leader also asked the EC officials to discuss the matter with the collectors of Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban District and ensure voters do not face any problem due to the slow pace of voting at the booths.
Priya Dutt, daughter of late Sunil Dutt, will be the Congress candidate for the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency.
The constituency of Mumbai South, home to industrialists as well as high-ranking government officials, fared the worst with 47.7 percent voting.
The real surprise in these results came from Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM. Of the 29 Muslim candidates who got elected to the 227-strong BMC, the Congress and the AIMIM between them bagged 22.
In the post on X, Mahajan said, "I will be indebted to the family-like people from Mumbai North Central who treated me not just as an MP but gave me affection like a daughter."
The Sena-UB has fielded popular wrestler Chandrahar Patil from Sangli despite the Congress announcing Vishal Patil's name from the same seat.
While at some places people who had turned up at polling booths early in the morning left without casting their vote after waiting in line for a long time, Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray alleged that the process was slowed down deliberately.
Shiv Sena executive president Uddav Thackeray, who is in Pune, is expected to make the formal announcement on Satpotdar's candidature in Mumbai.
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Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday released its first list of 20 candidates for Lok Sabha elections, pitting Kumar Vishwas from Amethi, Rahul Gandhi's seat, and former banker Meera Sanyal and social activist Medha Patkar from Mumbai.
Suryavanshi said the personal mobile phone of one Dinesh Gurav, the data entry operator of Jogeshwari assembly constituency, was found in the hands of an unauthorised person and action is being taken in this regard.
Nirupam had been at loggerheads with senior party leaders in the state and the move has come as a bid to quell the intense infighting within the Mumbai Congress.
Bollywood actor and former Congress Lok Sabha MP Govinda on Thursday joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai.
Lok Sabha elections to 48 seats in the state will be held in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29.
You just can't get enough of Rakhi Sawant. The popular item girl and TV personality has now decided to take the political plunge from the crucial Mumbai North-West Lok Sabha constituency -- although there's one little problem: the Bharatiya Janata Party, the party that she wants to represent, is yet to finalise her name.
Over 16 lakh voters are eligible to cast their franchise in the by-election necessitated by the death of Dutt on May 25.
With this, the Shiv Sena has become the second major political party to release its list of candidates for the state assembly polls. Its ally BJP released a list of 99 candidates on Sunday.
Raut said there is always give and take in an alliance and they gave Ramtek and Kolhapur seats to the Congress. He said Sena-UBT has also given Amravati to the Congress.
Raut said such friendly fights should happen on all 48 seats in Maharashtra as well as in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Rane, who quit Shiv Sena, contested the bypoll on a Congress ticket.
'Rahul Gandhi is showing an 'I-don't-care-attitude'.' 'He is showing the same attitude towards what is happening in Maharashtra or in various parts of the country.'
'We can't sit back clutching our memories of the riots. The country, the future of our children are more important.' Jyoti Punwani reports on an unusual election meeting in Mumbai.
The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a setback in Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra on Tuesday, with its tally dwindling by less than half compared to 2019, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar was on a roll, pocketing 30 of the 48 seats.
Taking note of complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge approved Nirupam's expulsion from the party for six years with immediate effect, an official communication from the party said.
Kirtikar, who won from the seat in 2014 and 2019, is the 13th Shiv Sena MP to rebel against former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
The Election Commission has ordered a re-poll at four booths spread across three Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra on April 27 citing non-clearance of votes cast during mock polls, as it had a bearing on the actual numbers reflected in the EVMs.
There is a growing unease among Lok Sabha ticket aspirants in the Shiv Sena amid its decision to drop three sitting MPs and the ongoing seat-sharing talks between the Mahayuti partners, party sources said.
Hemant V Shivsaran/Rediff.com does a deep dive and lists the winners with the highest and lowest margins in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
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