Although a parliamentary democracy, Indian politics has increasingly become dynastic, possibly due to the absence of a party organization, independent civil society associations that mobilize support for the party, and centralized financing of elections.[1] Family members have also led the Congress party for most of the period since 1978 when Indira Gandhi floated the then Congress(I) faction of the party.[2] It also is fairly common in many political parties in Maharashtra.[3] The dynastic phenomenon is seen from national level down to district level and even village level.The three-tier structure of Panchayati Raj established in the 1960s also helped to create and consolidate the dynastic phenomenon in rural areas. Apart from government,political families also control cooperative institutions, mainly cooperative sugar factories,district cooperative banks in the state, and since the 1980s private for profit colleges.[4][5] The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party also features several senior leaders who are dynasts.[6][7] In Maharashtra, the NCP has particularly high level of dynasticism.[7]
Below is a partial list of the political families of Maharashtra state in India.
Vilasrao Deshmukh (1945 – August 2012) - MP in the Rajya Sabha, Indian Minister of Science & Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences, former Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, former Minister of Rural Development and Minister of Panchayati Raj, Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra for 2 Terms -
Amit Deshmukh, son of Vilasrao Deshmukh - Cabinet Minister & Guardian Minister of Latur.
Priya Dutt Ex. Member of Parliament, daughter of Sunil Dutt
Gedit
The Gadakh Family
Yashwantrao Gadakh Patil - is a veteran leader of Nationalist Congress Party from Maharashtra. He served as Member of Parliament for 3 terms, also served as Member of legislative council.
B.J.Khatal-Patil, Former Minister of State for Co-operation, Planning etc and Minister of Cabinet for Law & Judiciary, Food & Civil Supplies, Irrigation, PWD, Revenue etc and Congress Member for Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Vikramsinh Satish Khatal Patil, grandson of Mr B. J. Khatal-Patil is now socially and politically active from the family.
Pankaja Munde - Daughter of Gopinath Munde.Ex.Minister of Rural Development, Women and Child Welfare in Devendra Fadnavis government
Pritam Munde - Younger daughter of Gopinath Munde. BJP Member of Parliament from Beed
Dhananjay Munde - Nephew of Gopinath Munde, former Cabinet Minister in the Government of Maharashtra. Member of NCP
Nedit
The Naik Family (of Vasantrao)
Vasantrao Naik, 4th Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Former Member of Parliament. The longest served Chief Minister of State.
Avinash Naik, son of Vasantrao Naik, Former Minister of state.
Sudhakarrao Naik,Nephew of Vasantarao Naik, Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Former Member of Parliament. Founder member of Nationalist Congress Party
Nilay Naik, Nephew of Sudhakarrao Naik, Member of Legislative Council, Former President of Zilha Parishad Yavatmal.
Ajit Pawar - Nephew of Sharad Pawar; Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra State
Parth Pawar - Son of Ajit Pawar, Grandnephew of Sharad Pawar[9]
Rohit Rajendra Pawar - Grandson of Sharad Pawar, Nephew of Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar Member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Karjat Jamkhed Constituency
Rajarambapu Patil - Former Member of legislative assembly Maharashtra.In the 1960s and 70s, he was influential in establishing many cooperative instituitions such as a bank and a Sugar factory in sangli district.[10]
Jayant Patil - Cabinet Minister of Maharashtra State, Son of Rajarambapu Patil
The Purohit Family
Raj K. Purohit - BJP Chief Whip of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (Cabinet Minister)
Sushilkumar Shinde, Former Central Home Minister of India, Former Ministry of Power, Former Governor of AndhraPradesh, Former Chief Minister of Mahrashtra.
Praniti Shinde, Member of Legislative Assembly from Solapur City Central, Mahrashtra, AICC Media Panelist. Daughter of Sushilkumar
Eknath Shinde, 19th and current Chief minister of Maharashtra, Member of Legislative Assembly from Kopri-Pachpakhadi, Maharashtra, Leader of Shiv Sena Party, former Cabinet Minister of PWD in Maharashtra State Government (2014-2019), Appointed as Guardian minister of Thane District (2014-2019)
Shrikant Shinde, Member of Parliament 16th Lok Sabha from kalyan constituency, Maharashtra, Son of Eknath Shinde
Bal Thackeray (also known as Balasaheb) (1926 – 2012) - founder leader and former chairperson of the Shiv Sena
Uddhav Thackeray, Former Chief Minister Of Maharashtra; leader and chairperson of the Shiv Sena (UBT); son of Balasaheb Thackeray
Aditya Thackeray, ex Minister (Environment and climate, Tourism, Protocol), Government of Maharashtra; founder and president of Yuva Sena; son of Uddhav Thackeray
Shrikant Thackeray, younger brother of Bal Thackeray
Bhausaheb thorat, Bhausaheb Thorat was a peasant leader and worked as a freedom fighter in the freedom struggle in Maharashtra and a one-time legislator from Sangamner constituency.
Subhash Zanak - Son of Ramrao. Former Cabinet Minister For Women and Child Welfare, Ashok Chavan's Ministry. Member of Congress party
Amit Subhashrao Zanak - Son of Subhash and grandson of Ramrao. Legislator in Maharashtra assembly. Member of Congress party
The Zakaria Family
Rafiq Zakaria Former Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha & Cabinet Minister in Maharashtra
Asif Zakaria - Son of Ahmed, Municipal Corporator, Ward No. 101 & Member - Standing Committee, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
Referencesedit
^Chhibber, Pradeep (March 2013). "Dynastic parties Organization, finance and impact". Party Politics. 19 (2): 277–295. doi:10.1177/1354068811406995. S2CID 144781444.
^Basu, Amrita (2016). Kanchan Chandra (ed.). Democratic Dynasties: State, Party and Family in Contemporary Indian Politics (1 ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-107-12344-1. Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
^Simon Denyer (24 June 2014). Rogue Elephant: Harnessing the Power of India's Unruly Democracy. Bloomsbury USA. pp. 115–116. ISBN 978-1-62040-608-3.
^Palshikar, S., 2004. Issues in an Issue-less Election: Assembly Polls in Maharashtra. Economic and Political weekly, pp.4399-4403.
^Mathew, A. PRIVATE ENGAGEMENT IN MAHARASHTRA HIGHER EDUCATION: FROM PHILANTHROPY TO COMMERCIALIZATION AND RESISTING REGULATION.College Post, April-Jun, 2018, 11-18
^"Is the BJP less dynastic than the Congress? Not so, Lok Sabha data shows". 29 March 2019.
^ abKanchan Chandra (28 April 2016). Democratic Dynasties: State, Party, and Family in Contemporary Indian Politics. Cambridge University Press. p. 131,136. ISBN 978-1-316-59212-0.
^Thomas Blom Hansen (5 June 2018). Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in Postcolonial Bombay. Princeton University Press. pp. 103–104. ISBN 978-0-691-18862-1.
^"Junior league: Parth Pawar makes another play". The Indian Express. 2022-03-29. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
^Ajit, J. P. (2013). Financial Analysis of Rajarambapu Co-Op. Bank Ltd., Peth, Dist. Sangli-A Case Study. Advances In Management, 6(6).