Maharashtra Council: Over 1 in 3 MLCs from political families, dynasties span parties
The Maharashtra Legislative Council, the state's Upper House, has a significant representation of members from established political families, according to a review of sitting and newly elected members. Of the 73 occupied seats in the 78-member House, 24 — more than one-third — are held by leaders related to current or former MPs, MLAs, ministers, or influential figures in cooperatives, education trusts, and local bodies.
The Council, which has five vacant seats, operates through a multi-tiered electoral system. Instead of direct elections, members are chosen by MLAs, graduates, teachers, and local bodies, with some nominated by the Governor. This system, designed to bring in a wider range of voices, often keeps space open for those already connected to political circles, reinforcing dynastic politics.
The trend cuts across party lines. Among the 25 members with political family backgrounds, 9 belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 5 to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and 1 to NCP (SP), 5 to the Congress, and 4 to the Shiv Sena and allied factions.
Recent Council elections have strengthened the pattern. New entrants include Aniket Tatkare (son of NCP state president Sunil Tatkare), Vikram Kakade (son of former Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kakade), Prajakt Tanpure (son of former MP Prasad Tanpure and nephew of senior leader Jayant Patil), Zeeshan Siddiqui (son of late Congress leader Baba Siddiqui), and Dushyant Chaturvedi (son of former minister Satish Chaturvedi).
Several well-known political families continue to hold Council seats. BJP leader Pankaja Munde is the daughter of late Union minister Gopinath Munde; NCP leader Pankaj Bhujbal is the son of senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal; and BJP's Sandip Joshi is the son of former MLC Diwakarrao Joshi. Congress MLC Satej Patil is the son of former Governor and educationist Dr D Y Patil, while Rajesh Rathod is the son of former MLA and MLC Dhondiram Rathod.
Others with political lineage include BJP's Niranjan Davkhare (son of former Legislative Council Deputy Chairman Vasant Davkhare), Parinay Fuke (son of district leader Ramesh Fuke), Abhijit Wanjari (son of former MLA Govindrao Wanjari), Arun Lad (son of freedom fighter and cooperative leader G D Bapu Lad), Kiran Sarnaik (linked to the family of former minister Babasaheb Sarnaik), and newly elected BJP MLC Gokul Gite (brother of former Nashik Municipal Corporation Standing Committee chairman Ganesh Gite). The list also includes BJP MLC Vivek Kolhe (son of cooperative sector leader Bipindada Kolhe and grandson of former minister Shankarrao Kolhe) and BJP's Yogesh Tilekar (whose family's political presence in Pune began with his mother, former municipal politician Ranjana Tilekar).
Many of these families have maintained influence for decades across electoral politics, cooperatives, and educational institutions. The Munde family continues to wield influence through Pankaja Munde and BJP MP Pritam Munde in Beed district, while the Tatkare family now has Sunil Tatkare as MP, Aditi Tatkare as a state minister, and Aniket Tatkare in the Council in Raigad.
