Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party will not fight the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra but the AAP convener will campaign for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, said party leader Sanjay Singh on Saturday.

The MVA coalition consists of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar’s NCP-SP, and the Congress.

“In the Maharashtra elections, the party’s National Convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, will campaign for the MVA candidates. Aam Aadmi Party will not contest elections in Maharashtra,” Singh said in a post on X.

According to reports, the AAP was contacted about Kejriwal campaigning in the state by the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP-SP. Voting in 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra will take place on November 20.

Kejriwal is also set to campaign for Hemant Soren’s ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand Assembly polls. Kejriwal will campaign on the seats, where his appeal would translate into votes for INDIA Bloc, especially on urban seats

In Jharkhand, the BJP will be contesting the upcoming Assembly elections in alliance with the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United) (JD-U), and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). On the other hand, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Rashtriya Janata Dal, and the Congress are contesting the election together.

Voting in Jharkhand will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20, while the counting of votes in both states will take place on November 23.

AAP and the MVA constituents are part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), which was formed before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to take on the BJP.

AAP entered into an alliance with the Congress, the largest constituent of the INDIA bloc, in Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana for the Lok Sabha polls. However, it contested on its own in Punjab.

AAP also contested the recent Assembly elections in Haryana independently and failed to open its account.

The Congress is also a constituent of the MVA in Maharashtra and a part of the ruling alliance in Jharkhand. 

Asserting that Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was not upset with the Maharashtra unit, NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh on Saturday accused the Mahayuti of spreading fake news over the issue of seat-sharing in the state.

Deshmukh mentioned that meetings between leaders of Congress in Maharashtra, including Balasaheb Thorat, Nana Patole, and Vijay Wadettiwar, and representatives of NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT), went well.

“Rahul Gandhi is not upset. Leaders like Balasaheb Thorat, Nana Patole and Vijay Wadettiwar all had meetings with leaders of NCP-SCP and Shiv Sena (UBT). We had taken the decision regarding seat sharing based on merit,” the NCP(SP) leader said.

He further clarified that the decision on seat sharing was made based on merit, countering the false information being spread by Opposition parties. Deshmukh also dispelled the notion that Rahul Gandhi was upset with the state leaders.

“Opposition parties are spreading false information. It is not true that Rahul Gandhi is upset with leaders in the State,” he said.

Furthermore, in preparation for the upcoming Assembly polls in Maharashtra, Congress released its second list of 23 candidates on Saturday.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has concluded talks on sharing seats in 255 constituencies, with each party planning to contest 85 Assembly constituencies, as informed by Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole.

On the same day, the BJP released a list of 40 star campaigners, including prominent party leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Jagat Prakash Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The other leaders from the saffron party — Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Assam Chief Minister Hemant Biswa Sarma, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Pramod Sawant were in the list.

The list also includes names of prominent leaders from the State — Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, Vinod Tawde, Narayan Rane, Pankaja Munde, Chandrakant (Dada) Patil, Girish Mahajan, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Ashish Shelar, Udayan Raje Bhonsle, Raosaheb Danve Patil, Ashok Chavan, Sudhir Mugantiwar, Navneet Rana, among others.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez, will inaugurate the Tata aircraft complex in Gujarat’s Vadodara on October 28 for manufacturing C-295 aircraft by Tata Advanced Systems.

According to the government, a total of 56 aircrafts are there under the C-295 programme, of which 16 are being delivered directly by Airbus from Spain and remaining 40 are to be made in India.

Tata Advanced Systems is responsible for making these 40 aircraft in India and this facility will be the first private sector FAL for military planes in India.

It will involve the full development of a complete ecosystem, from manufacture to assembly, test and qualification, to delivery and maintenance of the complete life cycle of the aircraft, the statement said.

“This will be the first private sector Final Assembly Line (FAL) for military aircraft in India,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement on Saturday.

Apart from Tatas, leading defence public sector units such as Bharat Electronics Ltd. and Bharat Dynamics Ltd, as well as private Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises will contribute to this programme, as per the release.

Modi had laid the foundation stone for the Vadodara Final Assembly Line in October 2022.

During his visit, PM Modi will also launch development projects worth more than Rs 4,900 crore in Amreli.

In Amreli, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the “Bharat Mata” Sarovar in Dudhala. This project was developed through a collaboration between the state government and the Dholakia Foundation under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

Various rail, road, water and tourism projects, among others, to be inaugurated by Modi will benefit the citizens of Amreli, Jamnagar, Morbi, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Junagadh, Porbandar, Kachchh and Botad districts of the state, the statement said.

Projects to be inaugurated include four-laning of various sections of NH 151, NH 151A and NH 51 and the Junagadh bypass. The foundation stone for the four-laning project of the remaining section from the Dhrol bypass in Jamnagar district to Amran in Morbi district will also be laid.