In Shinde Sena list, 37 of 41 MLAs who backed him in 2022 rebellion

Out of the 41 MLAs who supported Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during his 2022 rebellion, 37 have been included in the initial list of 45 candidates unveiled on Tuesday by the party.

Not making it to the list are Vishwanath Bhoir from Kalyan West, Shantaram More from Bhiwandi Rural, Balaji Jenikar from Ambernath, and Shrinivas Vanaga from Palghar. However, it’s possible that they may be included in the upcoming list.

Anticipated to vie for 80-85 seats, the Shinde Sena is likely to compete in the forthcoming Mahayuti’s seat allocation, the final outcome of which is still pending.

Shinde is set to once again contest from his strong bastion of Kopri-Panchpakhadi Assembly constituency in Thane, where he is expected to encounter a tough battle from Shiv Sena (UBT), a party that has not yet announced its candidate.

The Shinde Sena has revealed its chosen candidate for the Mahim seat, Sada Sarwankar, effectively dispelling rumors about a potential collaboration with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Meanwhile, Amit, the son of MNS leader Raj Thackeray, is contesting from the same constituency.

Renomination has been confirmed for all six sitting MLAs of the Shinde Sena in Mumbai, the stronghold of Sena.

Vanaga expressed his confidence in Shinde, stating that he believes his name will be included in the upcoming list of sitting MLAs.

Vilas, son of the former state minister and Aurangabad MP Sandipan Bhumre, has been nominated to contest from Paithan. Manisha Waikar, the spouse of Mumbai North West MP Ravindra Waikar, will be competing from Jogeshwari East. Kiran, the brother of Maharashtra Industries Minister Uday Samant, will represent the party in the Rajapur constituency, while Abhijit Adsul, the offspring of former MP Anand Adsul, is the chosen candidate for Daryapur. Suhas Babar, son of former MLA Anil Babar, and Amo Patil, son of sitting MLA Chimanrao Patil, will also be contesting from Khanapur and Erandol, respectively.

Arjun Khotkar, a prominent strongman, gained attention for welcoming Shrikant Pangarkar, a suspect in the Gauri Lankesh murder case, into the party (although Pangarkar was subsequently ousted). Khotkar will now be competing for the Jalna seat, while the Sena has selected Ashish Jaiswal, Manjulatai Gavit, and Narendra Bhondekar as its candidates for the Ramtek, Sakri, and Bhandara seats respectively.