Maharashtra Elections: No Clarity In Around 15 Seats As Nominations End

New Delhi: Nearly 8,000 candidates, including those from ruling as well as opposition camps, have filed their nominations for the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra at the end of the process on Tuesday. There is however no clarity in around 15 seats in the state.While the ruling alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena of Eknath Shinde and Nationalist Congress Party of Ajit Pawar is yet to announce the names of candidates for four seats, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi - Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP and the Congress - have not officially declared candidates for 11 seats.The BJP has fielded 152 candidates, the most in the ruling alliance. Ajit Pawar's NCP has 53, and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena 80. This includes the seats they have given to smaller allies -- four in case of the BJP and two for Shiv Sena.In the MVA, the Congress has fielded 103 candidates while Uddhav Thackeray's faction of Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar are at 87. Six seats were given to other MVA allies, while there was no clarity on three assembly segments.While some of these seats are expected to go to the smaller allies and INDIA bloc ally Samajwadi Party, there is no clarity on who gets how many. The unprecedented situation follows weeks of tussle in the Opposition camp. But the ruling alliance, which had more or less got its house in order, has allowed the suspense to grow. As many as 7,995 candidates have filed 10,905 nominations with the Election Commission (EC) for the November 20 polls, said a statement issued by the office of the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).Filing of nominations by candidates began on October 22 and the process ended on October 29. The verification and scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on October 30 and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is November 4 (till 3 pm).Polling will take place on November 20 and votes will be counted three days later.The ruling Mahayuti and the opposition MVA are the main contenders for power.With inputs from PTI