Published 13:16 IST, January 27th 2020
Maharashtra cabinet chosen on merit, Sharad Pawar? This list of 19 dynasts says otherwise
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday stated that many ministers in the state government did not belong to political families and were selected purely on merit.
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Speaking at the ‘Thane festival’ organised by Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad on January 26, NCP chief Sharad Pawar stated that many ministers in the state government did not belong to political families. On this occasion, he felicitated Awhad who is a first-generation politician having consistently won the Assembly election from the Mumbra-Kalwa constituency. Sharad Pawar stressed that the ministers had been selected “purely on merit”.
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Ironically, Pawar’s assertion about merit comes at a juncture when 19 out of the 43 ministers in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government belong to political families. While Congress tops the list with 8 out of 12 ministers being dynasts, NCP is not too far behind with 6 ministers having a political background including Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who is the nephew of the NCP chief. On the other hand, only three of Shiv Sena’s 15 ministers are dynasts. However, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya themselves belong to the clan of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
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Here is the full list of dynasts in the Maharashtra cabinet:
| Minister | Party | Relation |
| Uddhav Thackeray (CM) | Shiv Sena | Son of party founder Balasaheb Thackeray |
| Ajit Pawar (Deputy CM) | NCP | Nephew of party chief Sharad Pawar |
| Ashok Chavan | Congress | Son of former CM Shankarrao Chavan |
| Amit Deshmukh | Congress | Son of former CM Vilasrao Deshmukh |
| Shambhuraje Desai | Shiv Sena | Grandson of former Home Minister Balasaheb Desai |
| Shankarrao Gadakh | KSP | Son of veteran Congress leader Yashwantrao Gadakh |
| Aaditya Thackeray | Shiv Sena | Son of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray |
| Yashomati Thakur | Congress | Daughter of former MLA Bhayyasaheb Thakur |
| Sunil Kedar | Congress | Son of former Minister Chhatrapal Kedar |
| Varsha Gaikwad | Congress | Daughter of former MP Eknath Gaikwad |
| Vishwajeet Kadam | Congress | Son of former Minister Patangrao Kadam |
| Satej Patil | Congress | Son of former Congress leader DY Patil |
| Balasaheb Thorat | Congress | Son of former MLA Bhausaheb Thorat |
| Dhananjay Munde | NCP | Nephew of former Union Minister Gopinath Munde |
| Rajesh Tope | NCP | Son of former MP Ankush Tope |
| Jayant Patil | NCP | Son of former Minister Rajaram Patil |
| Aditi Tatkare | NCP | Daughter of former MP Sunil Tatkare |
| Balasaheb Patil | NCP | Son of former MLA Pandurang Patil |
| Prajakt Tanpure | NCP | Son of former MP Prasad Tanpure |
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13:16 IST, January 27th 2020