Lok Sabha polls: Shiv Sena (UBT) to release first list of candidates today

Mumbai (Maharastra) [India], March 26 : The Shiv Sena (UBT) will announce the first list of candidates in Maharashtra on Tuesday for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls scheduled to take place in seven phases beginning on April 19, said party leader Sanjay Raut.
"Shiv Sena's first list is ready, we will publish the list today. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) is with us. They are important members of Maha Vikas Aghadi. The proposal of 4 seats remains," said Sanjay Raut while talking to media persons.
He said the list will feature 16 names of the Uddhav Thackeray-led opposition party.
A day ahead of this NCP (SCP) president Sharad Pawar visited the residence of Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday to attend a meeting of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance.
According to sources, a discussion on seat sharing had taken place during the meeting at at 'Matoshree'.
On the other hand, amid the hustle of Lok Sabha polls, Maharashtra's senior Congress leader and Umred MLA Raju Parwe on Sunday joined Shiv Sena in the presence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.
The Mahayuti alliance got a further boost on March 24 when Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) chief Mahadev Jankar joined the alliance in the presence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis.
Maharashtra will vote in five phases for 48 constituencies in the general elections. Maharashtra ranks second in contributing to the Lower House of the Parliament, following Uttar Pradesh with 80 seats.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats.
The undivided NCP, part of the opposition alliance, contested 19 seats and won four. Following the split in 2022, the Shiv Sena, which had earlier formed a coalition government with the Congress and NCP, saw Eknath Shinde align with the BJP.