Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The deadline to withdraw nomination is November 4, from 10 am to 3 pm. The election landscape will be clear after the withdrawals made during these five hours. With three days of public holidays, only Monday remains for this process, the political parties would leave no stone unturned to utilise these holidays to encourage aspirants to withdraw their applications. The highest number of candidates, totalling 68, are contesting from the East constituency of the district. As per the primary information, the candidates in the fray include 26 Muslims, 18 Marathas, 11 Dalits, 12 OBC, and two Brahmins. Meanwhile, one candidate has already withdrawn. If the aim is to avoid vote splitting, there is keen interest in how many candidates from major parties will stay in the race and how many will be compelled to withdraw.
Candidates in a rush to negotiate for withdrawal
In the Central constituency, efforts were underway on Thursday night and throughout Friday for two candidates to withdraw. The outcome of their negotiations will be known on Monday. Due to the large number of Muslim candidates in the East constituency, discussions have emerged about the outreach efforts by candidates from major parties. In Aurangabad East, 69 applications have been validated, while the Vaijapur constituency has the fewest at 26. In the West constituency, there are 28 candidates, and attention is focused on how many will withdraw. On Thursday (October 31), Shrirang Joshi withdrew from the Aurangabad East constituency, and Savita Kakade withdrew from the Sillod constituency.
Constituency-wise figure of valid nominations
Sillod - 34; Kannad - 43; Phulambri - 65; Aurangabad Central - 35; Aurangabad West - 28; Aurangabad East - 68; Paithan - 51; Gangapur - 45; and Vaijapur -26.