ECI approves nomination papers of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis

The Election Commission of India (ECI) approved the nomination papers of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday. He is contesting the Maharashtra Assembly election from the Nagpur South-West seat. Earlier, the former BJP Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and Fadnavis’s current Congress opponent Ashish Deshmukh had demanded the cancellation of his nomination. He alleged that the CM had used an expired notary for his election affidavit. However, the Returning Officer (RO) rejected this objection.  

Read: Maharashtra: CM Fadnavis Declares His Total Assets Ahead Of Elections

Maharashtra CM files nomination 

The CM was flanked by BJP state president Chandrakant Patil, senior Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, and many other leaders when he filed his nomination on Friday.

Read: Fadnavis Endorses Aaditya Thackeray, Says He Will Win 'maximum Votes'

According to his affidavit, he has assets of over Rs 3.86 crore as against Rs 1.81 crore in 2014. This was attributed to a rise in the market value of these properties including land. It was further declared that the CM has Rs 17,500 "cash in hand", and bank deposits of Rs 8,29,665, as against Rs 1,19,630 in 2014. The increase in the salary and allowances of state legislators was cited as a reason for the jump in his bank deposits. 

Read: Maharashtra & Haryana Elections: Here Are Voter, Seat And EVM Figures

The Assembly election 

The Election Commission of India recently announced the state Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, along with bypolls in several other states. The total strength of the Maharashtra Assembly is 288, out of which 9 seats are reserved for SC and 5 for the ST category. In total, Maharashtra has 8.94 crore registered voters, out of which 1.16 lakh are service voters. 1.8 lakh ballot units, 1.28 lakh control units, and 1.39 lakh VVPATs will be used in the state. While the voting will take place on October 21, the results will be declared on October 24. 

(With ANI inputs)

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