The party, which is likely to contest 41 of the 48 seats (leaving the balance to RPI's Ambedkar faction), had a tough time finalising the first list as there were few takers for its party tickets. The nomination of former chief minister AR Antulay, who had lost in 1998 from his home constituency Kulaba, has only added to the disillusionment of the party cadres.

Antulay is likely to bank on Muslims and minorities in Aurangabad, his new constituency. He has been replaced by a woman candidate Rekha Sable in Kulaba who will face a tough fight from PWP's Thakur. Last year's winner Ramkrishna Baba Patil has been denied a second change.

Against Pawar in Baramati the party has fielded former MP and his arch rival Ramkrishna More. It may be mentionedhere that More was elected twice to the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Pawar's backing. Observers say More's candidature will have no impact on Pawar's fate as the latter has strong support-base in the district.

The party has fielded former MPs Sunil Dutt from the north-west against NCP candidate and former minister Ramesh Dube, Gurudas Kamat from north-east Mumbai against BJP's Kririt Somaiya and Chandrakant Ghosalia against BJP's Ram Naik. It has pitted Udaysinh Gaikwad from Kolhapur against NCP nominee Sadashiv Mandlik and Vilas Muttemwar from Nagpur against a strong RPI rival. The party has nominated former minister and president of MPCC, Prabha Rau from Wardha against Datta Meghe, a close Pawar associate.

Interestingly, Gaikwad who had opted out of electoral politics due to old age, has been forced to reenter. The same is true of Rau who was a member of the dissolved assembly. Congress has nominated an erstwhile Pawar confidant Govindrao Adik from the Kopargaon constituency in the sugarcane-richAhmednagar district.

The party has failed to find strong-enough candidates for Satara, Pune and Ramtek constituencies. MPCC president and former MP from Satara, Prataprao Bhosale is believed to be reluctant to contest. In Pune, the party is considering nomination of former mayor Vandana Chavan, former Pune city party chief Mohan Joshi or the son of senior party leader VN Gadgil, Anant Gadgil.