VBA releases list of 11 candidates for state polls

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) on Saturday released its first list of 11 candidates, including a transgender, for the upcoming assembly election in a clear indication that the party, led by Prakash Ambedkar, would not get into any alliance for the polls.
VBA had contested all 234 seats in the 2019 assembly election, the highest for any political party in Maharashtra.
Among the 11 candidates (see box), Vikas Dandge has been given a ticket from the Aurangabad East assembly constituency. Dandge comes from the Maratha community and has served as the chairman of the agriculture produce market committee.
VBA state vice-president Farooq Ahmad will has been retained from the Nanded South constituency. Coming from a family of doctors, he started his journey in activism by getting associated with rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
Shiva Narangle, who belongs to the Lingayat community, will contest the election from the Loha seat and has been serving as the party's Nanded district president for the past few years.
Shamibha Patil, a member from the third gender community, has been given ticket from the Raver constituency in Jalgaon district. Patil is the first person from the community to be fielded by any political party in the state so far. "Politics, especially when elected, gives one the right to participate in policy-making, and this is crucial for the development of any community," Patil, a graduate from Faizpur, said.
The other candidate announced from Nashik division is Kisan Chavan, who has been fielded from the Shevgaon constituency in Ahmednagar district.
The majority of the candidates who have been granted tickets in the first list have been party office-bearers for five or more years.
(With inputs from Abhilash Botekar in Nashik)