Almost all major political parties in India condemn family monopoly on the political map but in reality, that becomes only an academic exercise. When it comes to actual electioneering, this sage position changes as it is felt safe to stick to the maxim – “Blood is thicker than water.” The outcome is that political power remains concentrated in a few established clans or hands. The families of Gandhi’s, Laloo Prasad, Mulayam Singh, M. Karunanidhi, Biju Patnayak, the Scindia’s, Prakash Singh Badal and Sharad Pawar are only a few cases in point. The current Maharashtra assembly’s list of candidates belonging to major parties makes it evident once again that sharing of political power in the true sense will remain a distant dream.
In Maharashtra, the list is expectedly topped by veteran Sharad Pawar, who himself is a Rajya Sabha member. First elected in 1967, he has graced seats in both houses of the state legislature and of parliament. His daughter Supriya Sule has been elected to the Lok Sabha. Pawar’s nephew and loyal supporter all these years, Ajit Pawar, is the state’s deputy chief minister though distanced from the uncle. He has been winning elections since 1991 from Baramati, the hometown of the Pawar Parivar. Ajit’s wife Sunetra is a RS member. Another member, Rohit is MLA in the state. He is elder Pawar’s grandson. Another grandkid, Yugendra has been selected by the Nationalist Congress party to take on uncle Ajit in Baramati, which will be the most watched battle in the days to come. Though cooling his heels right now, Parth Pawar is awaiting an opportune time to rejoin politics. The son of Ajit, he lost the Lok Sabha election and has maintained a low profile since.
The other prominent family, the Thackeray’s, is expanding its presence by filing Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray’s son Amit from Dadar-Mahim, the birthplace of the Sena in 1966. Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya are members of the state legislature. If Amit wins, there will be two Thackeray families, just like two Pawar and two Munde families.
NCP(AP) leader Dhananjay Munde has filed his nomination from Parli in Beed district of Marathwada. He was elected to the assembly from this constituency in 2019 by defeating his cousin Pankaja, a daughter of late Gopinath Munde. The BJP gave an opportunity to Pankaja to contest the LS election this year but she lost. Nonetheless, the party bestowed on her a place in the legislative council through nomination by the governor. Dhananjay was groomed by uncle Gopinath to follow in his footsteps in politics. Once he was established, Dhananjay deserted the mentor and joined the NCP under Sharad Pawar’s leadership. After a decade, he again changed loyalties and donned the NCP(AP) cap. Now, the BJP is helping him to campaign.
Former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s two sons – Amit and Dheeraj – are contesting from adjoining seats in Latur in Marathwada on behalf of the Congress party. Both are sitting MLAs while Amit was a minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government between 2019 and 2022. A hugely popular family, the Deshmukh hold on the constituencies is considerable. Vilasrao’s brother, Dilip Deshmukh, was a member of the upper house and a junior minister for some time. So far, no Congress leader has expressed any ambition to challenge the Deshmukh fiefdom.
The most typical case is that of former CM Narayan Rane, who is now a LS member. His younger son Nitesh is a member of the assembly while the elder brother, Nilesh, was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 but lost in 2014. Rane himself rose to great heights through the unified Shiv Sena, which he left after Uddhav was anointed to take over from Balasaheb. Then Rane joined the Congress but was restless since he was denied the post of the chief minister. He floated his own outfit but it proved ineffective. Later, Rane and his son joined the BJP. Rane was a Union minister for a little while. He is now elected to the Lok Sabha while Nitesh is contesting for the assembly on behalf of the BJP. As there is no vacant seat with the BJP to offer to Nilesh, he has joined the Sena led by CM Eknath Shinde.
Incidentally, Shinde’s son Shrikant is a Lok Sabha member from Kalyan. A Shinde loyalist, Sandipan Bhumare, is in the LS while his son will be contesting from Paithan in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district of Marathwada for the Sena (Shinde). Another Shinde crony, Uday Samant is the state industry minister presently. He and his brother Kiran have been selected by the party to contest from Ratnagiri district in the Konkan. Sena (Shinde) LS member Ravindra Waikar’s wife Manisha will the party candidate from Jogeshwari east in Mumbai. There are several such examples.
Similarly, the BJP is not far behind in showering political favours. Former Union minister Raosabhe Danve has been accommodated in the legislative council by the BJP despite his defeat in the LS election. Former CM Ashok Chavan’s daughter Shrijaya will contest from Bhokar in Nanded district as a BJP nominee. The constituency has remained loyal from the days of S.B.Chavan to the family and the relationship is half a century long. At present, Ashok is in the Rajya Sabha while his wife Ameeta had been a Congress MLA for one term. His kin Bhaskarrao Khatgaonkar was a minister during the Congress regime, changed over to the BJP and has returned to the original party. Similar fallouts are reported from all around.
There are at least one hundred constituencies which have been monopolised by certain political parties, powerful families or by individuals for years. Any newcomer venturing into that reserved turf has to wage a fierce political battle to first survive and then win.
This is a brief profile of Maharashtra’s most powerful families and their hold on the electoral scene. As most sitting MLAs have been or will be nominated to contest this time, too, it will only strengthen their grip on the state affairs.
A Column By
Dilip Chaware – Senior Editor
A media professional for 43 years, with extensive experience of writing on
a variety of subjects; he is also a documentary producer and book author.
