Three ministers from the cabinet of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and at least five sitting MLAs are missing from the BJP’s first list of 125 candidates for Maharashtra Assembly election to be held on October 21.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will contest the polls from the Nagpur South West seat.

Minister for education, sports, cultural affairs, minorities and protocol Vinod Tawde, who had won from Borivali constituency in Mumbai in 2014 and Ambarish Raje Atram, who had won from Aheri constituency in Gadchiroli district in 2014 have not figured in the BJP’s first list of candidates which was released on Tuesday. Chandrashekhar Bawankule who had won from Karodi in 2014 has also not made it to the list.

Two other former ministers Eknath Khadse (Muktainagar) and Prakash Mehta (Ghatkopar East) too are not on the first list. Both the senior BJP leaders are among those few who were ministers in the Shiv Sena-BJP government between 1995-99. While Khadse, the then number two in cabinet, had resigned after corruption charges over a controversial land deal, Prakash Mehta was removed from the cabinet when the Lokayukta indicted him in a controversial decision regarding redevelopment proposal in Mumbai.

Other sitting MLAs who haven’t figured on the party’s first list include Sardar Tara Singh from Mulund. He started off as a corporator in 1984 and after about 20 years as corporator he has been MLA from the region for the past 20 years. Apart from age, the involvement of his son in the Punjab and Maharashtra cooperative bank crisis, is said to be a reason why he might have been kept out by the party. The party has fielded Mihir Kotecha from his constituency.

Another minister missing from the first list is tribal development minister Vishnu Savara because of his frailing health. Owing to this, the party has decided to field his son Dr Hemant from Vikramgad in Palghar district.

Kalyan West MLA Narendra Pawar too is missing from the first list. Party sources have said that the party might field newly inducted NCP bigwig Ganesh Naik from the seat.

While the party has fielded 12 women candidates in the first list of 125 candidates, in Kothrud constituency from Pune, the party has decided to replace sitting MLA Prof Medha Kulkarni with state BJP president Chandrakant Patil.

Among others on the list, Abhimanyu Pawar, who had been working as personal secretary to Chief Minister Fadnavis for past five years, has been fielded from Ausa in Latur district.

Harshawardhan Patil (Indapur), Sandip Naik (Airoli – Navi Mumbai), Vaibhav Pichad (Akola), Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Shirdi), Rana Jagjeetsinh Patil (Tuljapur), Jaykumar Gore (Man), Madan Bhosale (Wai), Shivendrasinh Raje Bhosale (Satara) and Amal Mahadeek (Kolhapur) are the ‘imported’ leaders who have featured on the BJP’s first list.