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Shiv Sena to contest 136 seats

The Bharatiya Janata Party will be involved in a friendly contest with the Shiv Sena, its ruling partner in Maharashtra, in 17 states.

The Shiv Sena will contest 136 Lok Sabha constituencies outside Maharashtra. It has requested the Election Commission to reserve the bow and arrow symbol, senior party leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi said.

The Sena will contest 15 seats in Uttar Pradesh, which is regarded as a BJP bastion. Other states where it will field candidates are Orissa (14 seats), Assam (5), Kerala (3), Bihar (11), Andhra Pradesh (6), Punjab (5), Delhi (2), Haryana (10), Karnataka (4), Rajasthan (25), Gujarat (11), Tamil Nadu (5), Madhya Pradhesh (9), Himachal Pradesh (3), Dadra Nagar Haveli (1) and West Bengal (7).

"The party will not have an alliance with the BJP outside Maharashtra," Joshi said.

The list of the constituencies where the Sena will field its candidates follows:

Uttar Pradesh: Banda, Sitapur, Kesarganj, Bagpath, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Awanla, Bareli, Muradabad, Dumariyaganj, Khalilabad, Itawaha, Sammal, Azamgarh and Phulpur.

Orissa: Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Dhenknal, Kenjahar, Deogarh, Kendrapara, Jagatsingpur, Puri, Bhadrak, Kalahandi, Balasore, Sundergarh and Mayurbhanj.

Assam: Karim Ganj, Silchar, Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Lakhampur.

Bihar: Madhepur, Jamshedpur, Arrah, Sasaram, Bikaramganj, Samastipur, Madhubani, Dhanabad, Patna, Darbhanga and Motihari.

Andhra Pradesh: Hyderabad, Sikandarabad, Nizamabad, Mahbubnagar, Nalagonda and Karimnagar.

Kerala: Thiruvanathapuram, Mukundapuram and Kasargod.

Tamil Nadu: Tiruchengode, Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Pollachi, and Tiruchirapalli.

Karnataka: Bagalkot, Bijapur, Karwar and Mandya.

Punjab: Gurudaspur, Amritsar, Hoshiyapur, Patiala and Jalandhar.

Delhi: Chandni Chowk and East Delhi.

Haryana: Sonepat, Kurukshetra, Hissar, Karnal, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Ambala, Faridabad, Shirsa and Mahendragarh.

Dadra Nagar Haveli: Silvasa.

Rajasthan: Ganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Shikar, Jaipur, Dausa, Alwar, Bharatpur, Bayana, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Tonk, Kota, Zalwad, Banswada, Salamber, Udaipur, Chitorgarh, Bhilwara, Pali, Jalore, Barmer, Jodhpur and Narore.

Gujarat: Rajkot, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Ahmedabad, Patan, Banaskantha, Kaira, Surat and Baroda.

Madhya Pradesh: Sagar, Shahdol, Vidisha, Bhind, Dhar, Gwalior, Muraina, Guna, Rewa.

Himachal Pradesh: Mandi, Kangra and Hamirpur.

West Bengal: Midnapur, Asansol, Hooghly, Dum Dum, Bankura, Diamond Harbour and Barasat.

Joshi made no secret of the Sena's efforts to become a national party. He said the benefits that will accrue from the nationwide contests would certainly help it to achieve the goal.

Thackeray, Joshi continued, would begin his electioneering tour of Maharashtra from next week by addressing a rally at Kolhapur. He would be accompanied by his son Udhav and nephew Raj, besides Joshi himself.

UNI

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