Maharashtra Elections: NCP Releases First List of 38 Candidates, Ajit Pawar to Contest from Baramati

The Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) has released its first list of 38 candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections on November 20, with its leader Ajit Pawar to contest from Baramati.

According to the list, senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal will contest from the Yevla Assembly constituency and Dilip Walse-Patil will fight from the Ambegaon seat. Other leaders include Dhananjay Munde from Parali, Hasan Mushrif from Kagal and Narhari Jhirwal from Dindori.

Ajit Pawar will face his nephew Yugendra Pawar who has been fielded by the Sharad Pawar-led NCP in Baramati, once again making it a contest among the family members, which was also witnessed in the Lok Sabha Elections. Yugendra is the son of Ajit Pawar’s brother Srinivas Pawar, who currently serves as the treasurer of Baramati-based Vidya Pratisthan Sanstha.

Full list of NCP candidates

• Ajit Pawar – Baramati
• Chhagan Bhujbal – Yevla
• Dilip Walse-Patil – Ambegaon
• Hasan Mushrif – Kagal
• Dhananjay Munde – Parali
• Narahari Zirwal – Dhindori
• Dharmarao Baba Atram – Aheri
• Aditi Tatkare – Shrivardhan
• Anil Bhaidas Patil – Amalner
• Sanjay Bansode – Udgir
• Rajkumar Badole – Arjuni Morgaon
• Prakashdada Solnake – Majalgaon
• Makarand Patil – Wai
• Manikrao Kokate – Sinnar
• Dilip Mohite – Kheld Alandi
• Sangram Jagtap – Ahmednagar City
• Dattatreya Bharane – Indapur
• Babasaheb Patil – Ahmedpur
• Daulat Daroda – Shahpur
• Anna Bansode – Pimpri
• Nitin Pagar – Kalwan
• Ashutosh Kale – Kopargao
• Kiran Lahamate – Akole
• Chandrakant alias Raju Navghare – Basmat
• Shekhar Nikam – Chiploom
• Sunil Shelke – Mawal
• Atul Benke – Junnar
• Yashwant Vittal Mane – Mohol
• Chetan Tupe – Hadpasar
• Saroj Ahire – Deolali
• Rajesh Patil – Changarh
• Hiraman Khoskar – Igatpuri
• Raju Karemore – Tumsar
• Indranil Naik – Pusad
• Sulabha Khodke – Amaravati City
• Bharat Gavit – Navapur
• Nirmala Uttarmrao Vitekar – Pathri
• Najeeb Mulla – Mumbra-Kalwa

The Baramati seat has traditionally been a Pawar stronghold, with Ajit Pawar representing it for a record six terms. In the 2019 Assembly elections, Ajit Pawar defeated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Gopichand Padalkar by a margin of more than 165,000 votes.

However, Ajit Pawar’s NCP faced a setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when his wife Sunetra Pawar was defeated by his cousin Supriya Sule from Sharad Pawar’s NCP by a margin of over 158,000 votes.

Polls for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly will be held in a single phase on November 20, and votes will be counted on November 23. The BJP is looking forward to retaining its power alongside its Mahayuti partners Shiv Sena (led by Eknath Shinde) and Ajit Pawar’s NCP after a successful show in Haryana earlier this month.

The Mahayuti alliance is preparing for an intense battle with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance – comprising Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar’s NCP and the Congress. The upcoming elections in Maharashtra present a unique political competition, where it is pitting Shiv Sena against Shiv Sena, NCP against NCP and the ubiquitous Congress vs BJP.