Aurangabad, Dec 30 (PTI) Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda will address a rally in Aurangabad on January 2 as part of the party's aim to win 45 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in the 2024 general elections, Union Minister Bhagwat Karad said on Friday.

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Karad also said Nadda's tour was aimed at bolstering the party's prospects in LS seats, including Aurangabad, which were left for allies earlier.

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The Aurangabad seat used to be contested by the undivided Shiv Sena when the two parties were in an alliance.

"Nadda will address a rally here on January 2 and then meet some 200 BJP workers. He will visit the Grushneshwar Temple, one of the 12 jyotirlingas in the country. He will also go to Parbhani and Osmanabad later," Karad told PTI.

He said the BJP had not contested the Auranganad Lok Sabha seat despite making preparations in 2017 for the 2019 polls. It was eventually won by All India Majli-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's Imitiaz Jaleel.

"I have faith the Aurangabad seat will be contested by the BJP. Nadda's tour is part of BJP's mission to win 45 of the 48 Maharashtra Lok Sabha seats," he said.

Following a rebellion by Eknath Shinde in June, the Shiv Sena split into factions led by him and Uddhav Thackeray. Both groups have staked claim to the party name and symbol.

The BJP and Shinde's Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena comprise the ruling alliance in Maharashtra.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)