15 Maharashtra districts lack cabinet representation; three have four ministers each
Maharashtra's recent cabinet expansion highlights regional disparities in power sharing, with seven of Vidarbha's 11 districts lacking ministerial representation.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is representing Nagpur along with Chandrashekhar Bawankule, and Ashish Jaiswal. (File Photo) -
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The recent cabinet expansion in Maharashtra, which led to the induction of senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal as a minister, has been seen as a politically expedient move. The government brought him in as an OBC face to appeal to the larger OBC community ahead of the upcoming municipal (corporation) elections across the state.
While caste dynamics continue to influence ministerial appointments, Maharashtra suffers from significant regional disparities in terms of equitable power sharing. Out of the state’s 36 districts, 15 have no representation in the cabinet.
The unrepresented districts are: Akola, Amravati, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Washim, Hingoli, Jalna, Nanded, Nandurbar, Dharashiv, Palghar, Sangli, and Solapur.
The most underrepresented region is Vidarbha, where seven out of 11 districts lack ministerial representation. This is followed by Marathwada, where three out of eight districts have no cabinet ministers. In north Maharashtra, two of the five districts are unrepresented. Similarly, in western Maharashtra, two of the five districts lack ministers. In the Konkan region, which includes the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, only one of the seven districts lacks representation.
Out of the state’s 36 districts, 15 have no representation in the cabinet.
According to existing rules, the total number of ministers in any state council must not exceed 15 per cent of the total strength of the legislative Assembly. With a 288-member Assembly, Maharashtra can have a maximum of 43 ministers. Currently, apart from the chief minister and two deputy chief ministers, there are 33 cabinet ministers and six ministers of state, bringing the total to 42.
The districts with the highest cabinet representation are Nashik, Satara, and Pune, each having four ministers. Satara is represented by Shambhuraj Desai, Shivendraraje Bhosale, Jaykumar Gore, and Makarand Patil. Nashik has Chhagan Bhujbal, Dada Bhuse, Narhari Zirwal, and Manikrao Kokate. Pune is represented by Ajit Pawar, Chandrakant Patil, Dattatray Bharane, and Madhuri Misal.
Nagpur has three ministers in the state cabinet: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, and Ashish Jaiswal. It is followed by Thane, which is represented by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Ganesh Naik, and Pratap Sarnaik. Jalgaon also has three ministers: Girish Mahajan, Gulabrao Patil, and Sanjay Sawkare. Similarly, Yavatmal is represented by Sanjay Rathod, Ashok Uike, and Indranil Naik.
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The districts with two ministers each are Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, represented by Atul Save and Sanjay Shirsat; Kolhapur, with Hasan Mushrif and Prakash Abitkar; Raigad, represented by Aditi Tatkare and Bharat Gogawale; and Ratnagiri, with Uday Samant and Yogesh Kadam.
The districts with only one minister each are Ahmednagar with Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Beed with Pankaja Munde; Mumbai City with Mangalprabhat Lodha; Mumbai Suburban with Ashish Shelar; Dhule with Jaykumar Rawal; Latur with Babasaheb Patil; Sindhudurg with Nitesh Rane; Buldhana with Akash Fundkar; Wardha with Pankaj Bhoyar and Parbhani with Meghna Bordikar.
States like Maharashtra have significant geographic and economic diversity across regions. Without regional balance in cabinet appointments, certain areas may receive disproportionate development benefits while others remain neglected. When certain regions are left out of cabinet positions repeatedly, it can lead to a sense of political exclusion and neglect. This has historically fuelled regional unrest and demands for separate statehood, including the one for Vidarbha.
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