Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena announces 8 candidates for Lok Sabha elections

The Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday announced candidates for eight Lok Sabha seats in the state, with the list including seven sitting MPs.

It gave a ticket to former Congress MLA Raju Parve from Ramtek (SC) seat, which will see polling on April 19. Parve had joined the Shiv Sena recently. He replaces Sena’s sitting MP Krupal Tumane.

The other seven names on the list, all sitting MPs, are Rahul Shewale (Mumbai South Central), Sanjay Mandlik (Kolhapur), Sadashiv Lokhande (Shirdi (SC)) Prataprao Jadhav (Buldhana), Hemant Patil (Hingoli), Srirang Barne (Maval) and Dhairyasheel Mane (Hatkanangale).

In June 2022, the Shiv Sena, which had fought the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the BJP, split and 13 of the 18 MPs from the state had allied with Shinde.