While the ruling and opposition alliances were still stuck in seat-sharing talks, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar declared his first two candidates for the Nationalist Congress Party. He offered no surprises as he asked the party’s state unit president and sitting MP Sunil Tatkare to contest the Lok Sabha election from Raigad. A couple of hours later, the DCM executed a friendly arrangement with the Shinde Sena by inducting former Sena MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil to make him NCP’s candidate in Shirur against the Sharad Pawar faction’s actor-turned-MP Amol Kolhe.

Voting in Raigad will be in the third phase on May 7 and Shirur will be in the fourth on May 13. Pawar said most of his party’s seats were in the fourth and fifth leg of polling and hence he was in no hurry to announce the candidates. The BJP has announced 23 names so far. The Shinde Sena hasn’t made any candidacy public. The BJP wants to contest at least 30 seats, but the allies are not willing to cut their share for the big brother.