23 March,2024 03:46 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Dilip Walse Patil. File Pic
The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has formed a manifesto committee for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024, naming Maharashtra minister Dilip Walse Patil as its chairman, reported the PTI.
NCP treasurer and general secretary Shivajirao Garje will be the convenor of the 18-member committee, the party said in Mumbai in a media release, according to the PTI.
The manifesto committee includes Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Anil Patil, Deputy Speaker Narhari Jhirwal, Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare, and former ministers Rajendra Shingane and Baba Siddiqui, who recently switched over from the Congress.
The Sharad Pawar-founded NCP split last year after Ajit Pawar and a group of legislators joined the Maharashtra government under the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
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Lok Sabha elections 2024 in Maharashtra, which elects 48 MPs, will be held in five phases between April 19 and May 20.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had said that the seat-sharing discussions among the partners of the ruling 'Mahayuti' coalition in Maharashtra will be concluded soon, reported the PTI.
According to the news agency, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has declared candidates for 20 out of 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. The Mahayuti consists of the BJP, Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.
"Discussions on seat-sharing will be concluded very soon. Eighty percent of our work is done and 20 percent will be completed soon and we we will announce Mahayuti's candidates," Devendra Fadnavis had told reporters in Nagpur, as per the PTI.
To a question on speculation about Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) joining the Mahayuti, he said," Today, I cannot say anything about it officially....if any decision is taken, we will let you know."
Earlier, Devendra Fadnavis had said that positive conversations were held in Delhi about the Mahayuti alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, with "80 per cent" of the issues settled.
The discussions, which included Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, centred on seat-sharing in Maharashtra, which is an important component of the electoral strategy, PTI had reported.
(with PTI inputs)
