Khadakwasla's Sachin Dodke, Pimpri's Sulakshana Sheelwant, Parvati's Ashwini Tai Kadam, and Junnar's Satyashil Sherkar are the candidates from the Pune district announced by the NCP (Sharad Pawar group) in their second list. State President Jayant Patil revealed a total of 22 candidates during a press conference, bringing the overall count to 67 candidates so far.
Notable contests
In notable contests, BJP's Madhuri Misal will face off against NCP (SP) candidate Ashwini Kadam, while Anna Bansode from NCP (AP) will compete against Sulakshana Sheelwant from NCP (SP).
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar announces the second list of its candidates for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections pic.twitter.com/WaMaO0wm6C
— IANS (@ians_india) October 26, 2024
Bansode has been elected twice from the Pimpri reserved seat, first in 2009 and then in 2019. In the 2019 polls, he had defeated Chabuskar by around 20,000 votes. It is well known that Bansode is close to Ajit Pawar. During Pawar's rebellion in July 2019, Bansode was the only MLA who remained with him till the end. Misal is tree-time MLA from Parvati.
In the last election, the NCP narrowly lost the Khadakwasla seat by a margin of just 2,000 votes. The party is optimistic this time, hoping to close the gap and secure the seat.