Key candidates to watch out for this election

Mumbai: As the state goes to poll on Monday, we take a look at some of the high-profile contests in the state.

Prominent candidates in the fray are chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, his predecessors from Congress, Ashok Chavan — in fray from Bhokar in Na-nded district — and Prith-viraj Chavan — seeking re-election from Karad South in Satara district.

In a ‘son rise’ in the Shiv Sena, Aaditya Thackeray, son of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, will be contesting from Worli. He is the first person from the politically powerful Thackeray family to enter electoral politics.

Ashok Chavan (Bhokar)

The former chief minister is contesting from Bhokar constituency in Nanded district. The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Shrinivas Deshmukh against Mr Chavan, who had lost to the Lok Sabha election four months ago.

Prithviraj Chavan (Karad South)

Former chief minister and senior Congress lea-der Prithviraj Chavan is  seeking re-election from Karad South in Satara district. He is contesting agai-nst BJP’s Dr Atulbaba Bhosale.

Aaditya Thackeray (Worli)

Aaditya Thackeray, the son of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, has also entered the poll fray from Worli constituency in Mumbai. The Opposition has fielded Adv. Suresh Mane against Aditya Thackeray.

Chandrakant Patil (Kothrud)

BJP state president Chandrakant Patil is making his political debut from Kothrud in Pune. The Maharashtra Navani-rman Sena (MNS) has fielded Adv. Kishor Shinde against him.

Rohit Pawar (Karjat-Jamkhed)

The constituency has been with the BJP since 1995, with its candidate Ram Shinde winning it in 2014 with a margin of 38,000 votes. But this time, he faces a major challenge in the form of Rohit Pawar, a third generation member of the Pawar family.  Rohit, the grandson of the NCP chief Sharad Pawar, is making his electoral debut against the BJP leader.

Pankaja Munde and Dhananjay Munde (Parli)

Cousins Pankaja Munde and Dhananjay Munde will once again fight it out in Parli. Pankaja, a BJP minister, had defeated Dhananjay by over 25,000 votes in the 2014 Assembly polls.

The NCP campaign in this high-profile constituency has been hit by allegations that Dhananjay had made some obscene comments against Pankaja.

Nitesh Rane (Kankavli)

Kankavli is the only seat in the state, where BJP and Shiv Sena will be contesting against each other. Former chief minister Narayan Rane’s son Nitesh is trying his luck as a BJP candidate here. In 2014, he was elected from the same seat on a Congress ticket.

However, he faces a tough challenge from Sena’s Satish Sawant, who was once a close aide of Narayan Rane.