Mumbai: Mahayuti on Wednesday released its official list of 17 MLC candidates for the 16 biennial and one bypoll election to be held on June 18. Addressing a joint press conference, BJP state president Ravindra Chavan said a meeting of the alliance partners was held on Tuesday evening and it was decided to release the list of official candidates to ensure that there is no ambiguity. “Local leaders will be given the list to ensure Mahayuti wins from all 17 seats. Many of the rebel candidates have worked for the party for several years. I urge them to speak to senior leaders and withdraw their candidature. The party will consider them positively for upcoming posts in various corporations and important committees,” he said.NCP’s Sunil Tatkare expressed confidence that with Thursday being the last day for withdrawal of nominations, only the official Mahayuti candidates will remain in the fray. Shiv Sena’s Rahul Shewale said party chief Eknath Shinde had spoken with workers who had filed nominations and his word would be respected.
