As the nomination scrutiny concludes for the Maharashtra assembly elections, candidates in the Airoli, Belapur, Uran, and Panvel constituencies have received crucial validation of their candidacy. All major contenders breathed a sigh of relief as their nominations were approved, though several candidates across constituencies faced disqualification.
In the Airoli constituency, 23 of the 26 nominations were accepted, with three disqualified—two from Sanjay Naik and one from Dattatraya Sawale. Belapur saw a minor stir when the Nationalist Congress Party’s Sharadchandra Pawar faction candidate, Sandeep Naik, objected to another candidate with the same name. However, the Election Officer upheld the latter’s nomination, leaving 26 out of 27 applications approved. In Uran, all submissions passed scrutiny, while Panvel saw the highest volume of submissions with 30 nominations, nine of which were rejected.
The final step is now underway as candidates consider whether to withdraw any nominations by the November 4 deadline. The scrutiny process, which commenced Wednesday at the Election Officer’s office, also revealed that prominent figures had filed multiple alternative nominations. Ganesh Naik, for example, submitted three entries, of which he will keep only one and withdraw the others. Similarly, M.K. Madhavi will withdraw a nomination submitted for his son, and Vijay Nahta plans to withdraw two of his three applications.
Panvel also saw disqualification developments where Prashant Thakur’s election representative raised objections over two nominations filed under duplicate names, resulting in both rejections.
As the deadline approaches, all eyes are on the candidates, including independents, to see who will officially remain in the race.