Maharashtra BJP List: 6 MPs Replaced With Debutants, Sena-NCP Seats Untouched

The first list of Maharashtra BJP includes heavyweights like Nitin Gandkari, Piyush Goyal, and Pankaja Munde.

Maharashtra BJP first list of candidates full list Lok Sabha 2024

(Photo: The Quint)

Amid ongoing tussle with allies Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, 13 March, anounced its first list of 20 candidates for Maharashtra.

While the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state is yet to finalise seat sharing, the BJP declared names for the seats that it won in 2019.

Along with two prominent Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal, prominent leaders like Pankaja Munde, and Sudhir Mungantiwar are among the six names pitched for their maiden Lok Sabha contest.

Here are the key takeaways from BJP's first list for Maharashtra:

6 Lok Sabha Debutants Replace 6 Sitting MPs

In the list, six sitting MPs have been dropped by the party to be replaced by debutants in the Lok Sabha contest.

Jalgaon: Unmesh Patil dropped, Smita Wagh fielded:

Smita Wagh was dropped at the last minute in 2019 to field Unmesh Patil. Wagh is currently a Member of Legislative Council (MLC) and has fomerly been the president of the state BJP's women's wing.

Akola: Sanjay Dhotre dropped, Anup Dhotre fielded:

One of the tallest leaders of the region, four-time MP and former Union Minister Sanjay Dhotre has been replaced by son Anup due to former's health concerns, sources said.

Mumbai North: Gopal Shetty dropped, Piyush Goyal fielded:

A two-time MLA and two-time Lok Sabha MP, Shetty has cleared the way for Goyal's maiden Lok Ssabha contest in what is considered to be a safe seat for the BJP. Except for 2004 and 2009, the BJP has held the seat since 1984.

Mumbai North East: Manoj Kotak dropped, Mihir Kotecha fielded:

First-time MP Kotak is being replaced by Kotecha, a first-time MLA from Mulund. In 2019, Kotecha won the seat by a whopping 56.43% votes, with the runner-up candidate being at 19%. In Mumbai, the BJP has three MPs in six Lok Sabha seats, two of which have been replaced.

Pune: Girish Bapat dropped, Muralidhar Mohol fielded:

First-time MP Girish Bapat is being replaced by former Pune Mayor Muralidhar Mohol. Mohol was reportedly chosen among several RSS leaders and former MPs in the race.

Beed: Pritam Munde dropped, Pankaja Munde fielded:

In Beed, Pankaja replaced younger sister and two-time MP Pritam for her maiden Lok Sabha contest, ending years of speculations of her being deliberately sidelined by the Maharashtra leadership. Both daughters of former Union Minister and BJP leader Gopinath Munde, Pankaja has twice been the MLA from Parli in 2004 and 2009, till she lost the seat to cousin and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde in 2019.

State and Central Heavyweights Find Place

Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari has retained Nagpur, ending days of speculations of the central ledership considering a fresh face in the constituency. This will be Gadkari's third time contesting from the seat.

Cabinet minister and former Maharashtra BJP president Sudhir Mungantiwar is being fielded from Chandrapur for his maiden Lok Sabha contest. This is the only seat that the Congress had won in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and is now vacant due to MP Suresh Dhanorkar's demise last year.

Interestingly, the BJP dropped three-time MP from the seat and Minister of State Hansraj Ahir to make way for Mungantiwar.

From Nanded, the stronghold of former CM Ashok Chavan who recently jumped ship from the Congress to the BJP, the party has reposed faith in Prataprao Chikalikar who defeated Chavan in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

BJP Refrains from Touching Sena-NCP Seats

Amid rising differences and conflicts with the Shive Sena and the NCP over seat-sharing, the BJP refranined from declaring any candidates on seats that has sitting MPs of either of the allies.

The list also does not feature any of the constituencies held by leaders of Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena or Sharad Pawar's NCP.

Out of the seats that the party won in 2019, it is yet to declare candidates for Bhandara-Gondia, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Mumbai North Central, and Solapur.

Other than these seats, the BJP and the Sena also reportedly have a contention over Amravati, which is being held by sole independent MP Navneet Rana.

Khattar, Anurag Thakur Among 52 More Candidates Declared

Other than 20 candidates for Maharashtra, the BJP declared candidates for Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (1), Delhi (2), Gujarat (7), Haryana (6), Himachal Pradesh (2), Karnataka (20), Madhya Pradesh (5), Uttarakhand (2), Telangana (6), and Tripura (1).

Some of the key candidates from other states include:

• Manohar Lal Khattar, Karnal, Haryana

• Anurag Thakur, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh

• Tejaswi Surya, Bangalore South, Karnataka

• Anil Baluni, Garhwal, Uttarakhand

Here's the full second list of candidates declared by the BJP on Wednesday:

(Photo: BJP)

(Photo: BJP)

(Photo: BJP)

(Photo: BJP)