BJP leader Laxman Dhobale joins Sharad Pawar's NCP ahead of Maharashtra Assembly election

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suffered a jolt ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly election, as party leader and former minister Laxman Dhobale joined the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Wednesday, October 23, in the presence of party Member of Parliament (MP) Supriya Sule.

Dhobale, a former guardian minister of Solapur district, was part of the undivided NCP before joining BJP, reported news agency ANI.

Earlier, the chief spokesperson of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-headed NCP, Umesh Patil, resigned from his post and met veteran politician Sharad Pawar at YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai. Patil submitted his resignation to NCP President Sunil Tatkare.

Meanwhile, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)- comprising the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), NCP (SP), and Congress- continue to negotiate the seat-sharing agreements, reported ANI. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, earlier in the day, assured that there is no difference among the alliance over seat sharing.

"There is no difference of opinion among us. There is no animosity. Everything is going well." Sanjay Raut said.

Exuding confidence over MVA's victory in the Maharashtra Assembly election, Raut said that Shiv Sena (UBT) will secure a century of seats as that the country wants them to win 100 seats.

Meanwhile, the ruling Mahayuti alliance - comprising BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP - have released their first list of candidates.

As the polling date draws near, both Mahayuti and MVA have intensified their preparations.

The Maharashtra Assembly election will be held on November 20, with the counting for all the 288 constituencies scheduled to take place three days later.

In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election, BJP won 105 seats, followed by the Shiv Sena (56), NCP (54) and the Congress (44). In 2014, BJP won 122 seats, while the Shiv Sena won 63 and the Congress 42.

Somaiya writes to EC over Abu Azmi's alleged hate speech

Former BJP lawmaker Kirit Somaiya wrote a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday, seeking action against Samajwadi Party (SP) Maharashtra Chief Abu Azmi for using an alleged provocative speech during his recent election campaign.

In his letter, Somaiya alleged that Azmi was appealing to the Muslim community to vote on "religious lines" and that he was "exploiting fanaticism" among Muslim voters ahead of the elections.

He also noted that the speech given by Azmi, where the SP leader said that when the party has eight MLAs in Maharashtra, no mother will "feed her child milk" to commit atrocities against Muslims.

"We currently have two MLAs; we need at least six to eight MLAs, and the day we get eight, no one's mother will feed him milk so that he can commit atrocities against Muslims. This is my promise: I can offer my life for this community, but I will not kneel before anyone," Azmi said, as alleged in the letter.

Somaiya further appealed to the Election Commission to take appropriate action against the SP leader.

Earlier, the Samajwadi Party demanded 12 seats from MVA as part of the alliance for the upcoming polls.

(With ANI inputs)