'First list of BJP probables for Maha polls to be out in Sept'

BJP will declare its first list of probable candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra in the first week of September, a senior party leader said here today.
"The seat-sharing talks with alliance partners are in progress and similarly the party manifesto is being readied, which will be released shortly," state unit BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari told reporters.
He said that BJP has been holding a string of meetings at organisational level to shortlist the candidates, and will announce the first list of probables after culmination of the exercise by end of this month.
Responding to a query, Bhandari said, "The alliance (Mahayuti) had taken a lead in 231 Assembly segments during recently-held Lok Sabha elections and thus is in high spirits," Bhandari said.

BJP had won 23 seats while its alliance partner Shiv Sena 18 seats in Lok Sabha polls. In 2009 Assembly elections, BJP had won 46 seats and Shiv Sena 45.
Bhandari said that BJP-Sena combine will regain power in Maharashtra even though Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are fought on different issues.
Assembly elections are due in the state in October.
Reacting to state Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan skipping the function of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Nagpur on Thursday, Bhandari said, "the chief minister was ridiculed by his own party men in his constituency in the past.