The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday fielded Union minister Narayan Rane from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

The coastal seat, currently represented by Vinayak Raut who is again the candidate of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), has not been contested by the BJP earlier.

भारतीय जनता पार्टी की केन्द्रीय चुनाव समिति ने होने वाले आगामी लोकसभा चुनाव 2024 हेतु इस नाम पर अपनी स्वीकृति प्रदान की है। pic.twitter.com/x5z7kkwZz0

— BJP (@BJP4India) April 18, 2024

Narayan Rane`s son Nilesh Rane had won the seat in 2009 as the Congress candidate.

The MVA and the ruling Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, NCP led by Ajit Pawar, and Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, are in a tough contest for the 48 parliamentary seats in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second-largest after Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP and the undivided Shiv Sena fought the 2019 Lok Sabha polls together and won 23 and 18 seats, respectively.

The 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will go to the polls in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20.

The counting of votes is scheduled to take place on June 4.

Meanwhile, campaigning for 102 parliamentary constituencies distributed across 21 states and Union territories, where voting will be held in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on April 19, concluded on Wednesday.

In the first phase, polling will be held in Arunachal Pradesh (2 seats), Assam (5), Bihar (4), Chhattisgarh (1), Madhya Pradesh (6), Maharashtra (5), Manipur (2), Meghalaya (2), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Rajasthan (12), Sikkim (1), Tamil Nadu (39), Tripura (1), Uttar Pradesh (8), Uttarakhand (5), West Bengal (3), Andaman and Nicobar (1), Jammu and Kashmir (1), Lakshadweep (1) and Puducherry (1).

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