Jump to content

Politics of Maharashtra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Vijay bramhane (talk | contribs) at 04:34, 27 April 2019. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Maharashtra is a state in the western region of India and is India's third-largest state by area. It has over 112 million inhabitants and its capital, Mumbai, has a population of approximately 18 million. Nagpur is Maharashtra's second capital as well as its winter capital.[1] Government in the state is organized on parliamentary system. Power is further devolved to large city councils, District councils (Zila Parishad) and sub-district (Taluka) councils and the village parish councils (Gram panchayat). The politics of the state is dominated by the numerically strong Maratha-Kunbi community. There are National and regional parties in the state serving different demographics such as those based on religion, caste, urban and rural residents.

Government structure

Main articles: State governments of India, Local government § India, and Union territory
A Gram panchayat office in a village in Maharashtra

The government of Maharashtra is conducted within a framework of parliamentary government, with a bicameral legislature consisting of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and the Maharashtra Legislative Council. The Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) is the lower chamber and consists of 288 members who are elected for five-year terms. There are 25 and 29 seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and others respectively[2] The Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) is the upper chamber and is a permanent body of 78 members. The government of Maharashtra is headed by the Chief Minister, who is chosen by the party or alliance with a majority of members in the Legislative Assembly. The Chief Minister, along with the council of ministers, drives the legislative agenda and exercises most of the executive powers.[3] However, the constitutional and formal head of the state is the Governor, who is appointed for a five-year term by the President of India on the advice of the Union government.[4]

Maharashtra also elects members to both chambers of the Indian Parliament. Representatives to India's lower chamber, the Lok Sabha, are elected by adult universal suffrage and a first-past-the-post system to represent their respective constituencies, and they hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the President on the advice of the council of ministers.Representatives to the upper chamber, the Rajya Sabha, are elected indirectly by the Vidhan Sabha members.

There are three further levels of government below the state: districts (Zilla Parishad), Taluka [5](sub-divisions), and Gram panchayat (village parish councils) respectively.The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act also stipulated representation in local government for women, the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes[6].Cities and towns have their own separate governments. There are 36 districts in Maharashtra, which are typically grouped into six divisions, though there are no division-level governments.The state has a long tradition of highly powerful planning bodies at district and local levels. Local self governance institutions in rural areas include 34 zilla parishads, 355 Taluka Panchayat samitis and 27,993 Gram panchayats. Urban areas in the state are governed by 26 Municipal Corporations, 222 Municipal Councils, four Nagar Panchayats and seven Cantonment Boards.[7][8] The administration in each district is headed by a District collector, who belongs to the Indian Administrative Service and is assisted by a number of officers belonging to Maharashtra state services.[9] The Deputy Commissioner of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service and assisted by the officers of the Maharashtra Police Service, maintains law and order in addition to other related issues in each district. The Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service, manages the forests, environment and wildlife of the district, assisted by the officers of Maharashtra Forest Service and Maharashtra Forest Subordinate Service.[10] Sectoral development in the districts is looked after by the district head of each development department, such as Public Works, Health, Education, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.[11][12]

Administrative Divisions in India
Republic of India
StatesUnion Territories
Divisions
Districts or Zilla
District Sub-divisions
(Tehsils/Talukas)		Municipal Corporations
(Maha-Nagar-Palika)		Municipalities
(Nagar-Palika)		City Councils
(Nagar-Panchayat)
Villages
(Gram/Gaon)		Wards

Political parties & alliances

Devendra Fadnavis, 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra

The politics of Maharashtra since its inception in 1960 and also of predecessor states such as Bombay has been dominated by the Indian National Congress party.[13] Maharashtra became a bastion of the Congress party producing stalwarts such as Yashwantrao Chavan, Vasantdada Patil, Vasantrao Naik and Shankarrao Chavan. Sharad Pawar has been a towering personality in the state and National politics for nearly forty years. During his career, he has split the Congress twice with significant consequences for the state politics.[14][15] The Congress party enjoyed a near unchallenged dominance of the political landscape until 1995 when the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured an overwhelming majority in the state to form a coalition government.[16] After his second parting from the Congress party in 1999, Sharad Pawar formed the NCP but joined a Congress led coalition to form the state government after the 1999 Assembly elections.Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress party was the last Chief Minister of Maharashtra under the Congress-NCP alliance that ruled until 2014.[17][18][19] For the 2014 assembly polls, the two alliances between the NCP and Congress and between the BJP and Shiv Sena respectively broke down over seat allocations. In the election, the largest number of seats went to the Bharatiya Janata Party, with 122 seats. The BJP initially formed a minority government under Devendra Fadnavis but Shiv Sena has, as of December 2014, entered the Government and therefore the Government now enjoys a comfortable majority in the Maharashtra Vidhansabha.[20]

A period of coalition governments began in 1995 with the victory of Shiv Sena and the BJP. Shiv Sena was the larger party in the coalition. From 1999 until 2014, the NCP and INC formed one coalition while Shiv Sena and the BJP formed another for three successive elections, which the INC-NCP alliance won.

Other parties in the state include the All India Forward Bloc,Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, the Communist party of India, Peasant and workers party, All India Majlis-e Ittihad al-Muslimin, Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, Samajwadi Party, various factions of the dalit dominated Republican Party of India , Bahujan Samaj Party and the Socialist party[21].

Dominant groups in Maharashtra politics

Sharad Pawar, A dominant political figure of Maharashtrian politics for close to forty years
Bal Thackeray, Founder of Shiv Sena

The state of Maharashtra was formed on 1 May 1960, and since then its politics have been evolving. The INC was long without a major challenger, and enjoyed overwhelming support from the influential state's sugar co-operatives and thousands of other cooperative organizations involved in the rural agricultural economy of the state such as marketing of dairy and vegetable produce, credit unions etc.[22] For better part of the late colonial and early post independence, in Bombay state and its successor Maharashtra state, the politics of the state has been dominated by the mainly rural Maratha-Kunbi caste.[23] The community account for 31% of the population of Maharashtra.They dominate the cooperative institutions and with the resultant economic power, control politics from the village level up to the Assembly and Lok Sabha seats.[24], [25]Since the 1980s, this group has also been active in setting up private educational institutions.[26][27][28] Major past political figures of Congress party from Maharashtra such as Keshavrao Jedhe, Yashwantrao Chavan[29], and Shankarrao Chavan and Vilasrao Deshmukh have been from this group. Sharad Pawar, who had been a towering figure in Maharashtrian and national politics, belongs to this group. Of the 18 Chief Ministers so far, as many as 10 (55%) have been Maratha.[30] As of December 2016, of the 366 MLAs (Legislative Assembly has 288 MLAs and Legislative Council has 78) combined), 169 (46%) are Marathas.[31]

The state's political status quo was upset when Sharad Pawar defected from the INC, which was perceived as the vehicle of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, to form the Nationalist Congress Party. This followed disputes between Pawar and the INC president Sonia Gandhi. This offshoot of the Congress party is nevertheless dominated by the Maratha community.

In the last thirty years, however, Shiv Sena and the BJP began gaining a foothold in the state of Maharashtra, especially in the urban areas such as Mumbai. The Shiv Sena was formed in the 1960s by Balashaheb Thackerey, a cartoonist and journalist, to advocate and agitate for the interests of Marathi people in Mumbai. Over the following decades, the Shiv Sena slowly expanded and took over the then Bombay corporation in the 1980s.The original base of the party was lower middle and working class Marathi people in Mumbai and surrounding urban areas. The leadership of the party also came from educated people.However, since 1990s there has been dada-ization of the party. [32]Also by the number of Marathas elected on Shiv sena ticket in the last few elections,the party is emerging as another Maratha party.[33] The Shiv Sena and the BJP came into the power at the state level in 1995, which was a big blow to the INC. A split emerged within Shiv Sena when Bal Thackeray anointed his son Uddhav Thackeray as his successor over his nephew Raj Thackeray in 2006. Raj Thackeray then left the party and formed a new party called Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Raj Thackeray, like his uncle, has also tried to win support from the Marathi community by whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment in Maharashtra, for instance against Biharis.

The BJP is closely related to the RSS and is part of the Sangh Parivar.The party originally derived its support from the urban upper castes such as Brahmins and non-Maharashtrians. In recent years the party has been able to penetrate the Maratha group in by fielding Maratha candidates in elections.[34]

After the Maratha-Kunbi cluster, the Mahars are numerically the second strongest community. Most of the Mahars are followers of Buddhism and fall under the scheduled caste (SC) group. Since the times of B. R. Ambedkar, the Mahar community has supported various factions of the Republican party of India (RPI). There are 25 seats reserved for SC. Other parties like NCP, BJP and the Congress field candidates from other Hindu SC groups like Mang and Chambhar in the reserved seats to thwart the candidates of the RPI.[35]

2014 Assembly Election

Main article: Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election, 2014

The 2014 assembly election was highly significant because it followed landslide national victory of the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, which brought the Narendra Modi to power as prime minister.All major parties in the state (BJP, Shivsena, INC and NCP) contested the elections on their own leading to a complex and much-contested election.The BJP put together an alliance of uppper castes,the OBC, and to some extent the Dalit to fight the Maratha led Congress and NCP.[36] The results were highly significant in that the BJP received the highest number of seats despite being historically smaller than Shiv Sena in the state. Although the BJP still required Shiv Sena's support to form a majority, it progressed from a minor party in state politics to the party of the chief minister.Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP was appointed chief minister and holds that position now.

2019 Lok Sabha elections

Voting for the 48 Lok Sabha seats from Maharashtra is being held in four phases during April 2019. Despite their differences the BJP and Shiv Sena are once again contesting the elections together.[37]Similarly the Congress and NCP have seat sharing arrangement.The breakaway party of Raj Thakre, Maharashtra Navanirman sena is not contesting any seats, and instead has urged party supporters to vote for NCP- Congress alliance.Thakre is also campaigning for candidates belonging to these parties.[38]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Politics of Maharashtra.

Further reading

  • Rajendra Vora (2009),Chapter 7,Maharashtra or Maratha Rashtra in Rise of the plebeians? : the changing face of Indian legislative assemblies.[39]

References

  1. ^ Bhushan Kale (10 December 2014). "उपराजधानी ते राजधानी 'शिवनेरी'ची सवारी" [Uparājdhānī tē Rājdhānī' śivanērī'cī Savārī]. Divya Marathi (in Marathi). Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Legislative assembly Maharashtra". Congress. Maharashtra Congress. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "CM Selection". Election Commission. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  4. ^ "The Council of Ministers". Government of J & K. J & K Raj Bhavan. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  5. ^ Baviskar, B.S. (editor); Mathew, George (2008). Inclusion and exclusion in local governance : field studies from rural India. London: SAGE. p. 317. ISBN 9788178298603. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ Baviskar, B.S. (editor); Mathew, George (2008). Inclusion and exclusion in local governance : field studies from rural India. London: SAGE. p. 318. ISBN 9788178298603. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ "Population proportion in Maharashtra" (PDF). UNICEF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "State body info". Government of Maharashtra. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "District Deputy Commissioner". Ministry of Rural Development. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  10. ^ "Office of Chief Conservator of Forests & Deputy Director General, Social Forestry" (PDF). Government Of Maharashtra. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Sectoral Skill Development Committees" (PDF). National Skill Development Corporation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Regional Structure, Growth and Convergence of Income in Maharashtra" (PDF). Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Brass, Paul R. (2006). The politics of India since independence (2nd ed.). [New Delhi]: Cambridge University Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-0521543057. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  14. ^ Wilkinson, Steven (January 2005). "Elections in India: Behind the Congress Comeback". Journal of Democracy. 16 (1): 153–167. doi:10.1353/jod.2005.0018.
  15. ^ Kamat, AR (October 1980). "Politico-economic developments in Maharashtra: a review of the post-independence period , - JSTOR". Economic and Political Weekly. 15 (40): 1669–1678. JSTOR 4369147.
  16. ^ Palshikar, S; Birmal, N (18 December 2004). "Maharashtra: Towards a New Party System". Economic and Political Weekly. 39 (51): 5467–5472. JSTOR 4415934.
  17. ^ "Clean yet invisible: Prithviraj Chavan quits as CM, did anyone notice?". Firstpost. 27 September 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  18. ^ "Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan's rivals get key posts for Assembly polls". India Today. 16 August 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  19. ^ "Right man in the wrong polity". Tehelka. 28 April 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  20. ^ "BJP, Shiv Sena announce alliance in Maharashtra". IndiaToday.in Mumbai. 4 December 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  21. ^ "List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification Dated 18.01.2013" (PDF). India: Election Commission of India. 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  22. ^ Brass, Paul R. (2006). The politics of India since independence (2nd ed.). [New Delhi]: Cambridge University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0521543057. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  23. ^ Mishra, Sumita (2000). Grassroot politics in India. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. p. 27. ISBN 9788170997320.
  24. ^ Vora, Rajendra (2009). "Chapter 7 Maharashtra or Maratha Rashtra". In Kumar, Sanjay; Jaffrelot, Christophe (eds.). Rise of the plebeians? : the changing face of Indian legislative assemblies. New Delhi: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415460927.
  25. ^ Kulkarni, A.R. (Editor); Wagle, N.K.(Editor); Sirsikar, V.M. (Author) (1999). State intervention and popular response : western India in the nineteenth century. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan. p. 9. ISBN 978-81-7154-835-4. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  26. ^ Dahiwale, S. M. (1995). "Consolidation of Maratha Dominance in Maharashtra Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 30, No. 6 (Feb. 11, 1995), pp. 336-342 Published by". Economic and Political Weekly. 30 (6): 336–342. JSTOR 4402382.
  27. ^ Kurtz, Donald V. (1994). Contradictions and conflict : a dialectical political anthropology of a University in Western India. Leiden [u.a.]: Brill. p. 50. ISBN 978-9004098282.
  28. ^ Singh, R.; Lele, J.K. (1989). Language and society : steps towards an integrated theory. Leiden: E.J. Brill. pp. 32–42. ISBN 9789004087897.
  29. ^ Kulkarni, A.R. (Editor); Wagle, N.K.(Editor); Sirsikar, V.M. (Author) (1999). State intervention and popular response : western India in the nineteenth century. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan. p. 9. ISBN 978-81-7154-835-4. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  30. ^ Kakodkar, Priyanka (1 July 2014). "A quota for the ruling class". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  31. ^ "Maratha morcha: Over 150 MLAs, MLCs set to join the march in Nagpur on Wednesday". Firstpost. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  32. ^ Thomas Blom Hansen (5 June 2018). Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in Postcolonial Bombay. Princeton University Press. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-0-691-18862-1.
  33. ^ Christophe Jaffrelot; Sanjay Kumar (4 May 2012). Rise of the Plebeians?: The Changing Face of the Indian Legislative Assemblies. Routledge. pp. 240–. ISBN 978-1-136-51662-7.
  34. ^ Vora, Rajendra (2009). "Chapter 7 Maharashtra or Maratha Rashtra". In Kumar, Sanjay; Jaffrelot, Christophe (eds.). Rise of the plebeians? : the changing face of Indian legislative assemblies. New Delhi: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415460927.
  35. ^ Vora, Rajendra (2009). "Chapter 7 Maharashtra or Maratha Rashtra". In Kumar, Sanjay; Jaffrelot, Christophe (eds.). Rise of the plebeians? : the changing face of Indian legislative assemblies. New Delhi: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415460927.
  36. ^ Prashant Jha (2017). How the BJP Wins: Inside IndiaÕs Greatest Election Machine. Juggernaut Books. pp. 97–98. ISBN 978-93-86228-45-1.
  37. ^ "Opinion Poll: BJP-Shiv Sena may lose 8 seats in Maharashtra, Congress-NCP to improve figures". No. March 23. New Nation. 2019.
  38. ^ "Raj Thackeray, Dhananjay Munde in demand to campaign for Cong". April 11. PTI. 2019.
  39. ^ Vora, Rajendra (2009). "Chapter 7 Maharashtra or Maratha Rashtra". In Kumar, Sanjay; Jaffrelot, Christophe (eds.). Rise of the plebeians? : the changing face of Indian legislative assemblies. New Delhi: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415460927.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_Maharashtra&oldid=894326930"