PUNE: As many as 246 candidates, including NCP leader Ajit Pawar and Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil, are left in the fray for 21 assembly seats in Pune district.
October 7 was the last day for withdrawal of nominations for the single-phase polling in Maharashtra on October 21.
According to Election Commission (EC) officials, a total of 373 candidates had filed their nominations.
Of these, 127 have withdrawn their candidatures, leaving 246 in the fray for the 21 assembly seats in this western Maharashtra district.
Of these 21 seats, eight are in Pune city.
In the Kothrud assembly seat, where Patil is the BJP nominee, a total of 10 candidates opted out of the race, leaving 11 in the ring.
A total of 21 of candidates had filed their nomination papers in Kothrud, a Brahmin-dominated urban constituency in Pune city.
In the Baramati assembly segment, where Pawar is the NCP candidate, ten nominees are left in the fray.
A total of 12 candidates had filed their nominations from Baramati, a stronghold of the Pawar family, of which two withdrew their papers on Monday.
Pawar, a former deputy chief minister of the state, is seeking re-election from Baramati, which has a mix of rural and urban voters.