Is Maharashtra’s Election Scene A Battle Of Political Dynasties?

The upcoming Assembly elections will test whether the power of familiar political names and their intra-family strategies can still sway voters. While the focus on family candidates is seen as a safe bet, the true challenge will lie in how party cadres and supporters respond to these choices amidst shifting loyalties and internal rivalries

Even as dynasty politics or familism was hotly debated, it was in play in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, scheduled to be held on November 20.

Ruling MahaYuti and Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, which were leaving no stone unturned to grab the power, preferred "family first" while announcing candidates.

Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS, Shinde faction, NCP and BJP, which always targeted Congress for dynasty politics, nominated candidates from their families.

Interestingly, if another person from the same family failed to get a party nomination, instances have come to the fore, in which switching to other parties helped. The BJP, which follows the principle of 'one family, one candidate', has fielded relatives of its leaders in its first list of candidates.

Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar will contest from Bandra West while his brother Vinod Shelar was picked up and nominated from Malad West. BJP Rajya Sabha member Ashok Chavan had succeeded in getting a nomination for his daughter Shrijaya from the Bhoyar constituency.

The BJP nominated Pratibha Pachpute, wife of the sitting legislator and former minister Babanrao Pachpute from the Shrigonda constituency. The party leadership turned down the Pachpute family's request to field their son Vikram.

Moreover, BJP legislator Ganesh Naik was renominated from the Airoli constituency while his son Sandeep Naik two days ago joined the NCP-SP. While Ganesh will be busy campaigning for MahaYuti, Sandeep will seek votes for Maha Vikas Aghadi. Sandeep had made a strong case for getting a nomination from the Belapur seat but BJP did not consider his request as it renominated the sitting legislator Manda Mhatre.

On the other hand, former union minister Narayan Rane, who was elected from Ratnagiri Sindhudurg seat to the Lok Sabha, and his son and sitting MLA Nitesh Rane got the nomination again from Kanakavali Assembly constituency. However, Rane's other son and former MP Nilesh Rane has switched to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and will contest from Kudal.

Nilesh Rane, who has played a crucial role in his father's victory, will take on Shiv Sena-UBT nominee and Uddhav Thackeray's close confidant Vaibhav Naik. It was a coincidence that Vaibhav, as a nominee of the "united" Shiv Sena, defeated Narayan Rane, who was then Congress nominee and industry minister, in the 2014 Assembly election from the Kudal constituency. After a decade now, Vaibhav will fight against Narayan Rane's son.

Another prominent leader from the Shinde faction who was the beneficiary of dynasty politics was State Industry Minister Uday Samant, Uday was nominated from Ratnagiri but his brother Kiran Samant also hit the lottery by getting a nomination from the adjoining Ratapur constituency.

Kirant, a leading industrialist, hogged the headlines after he changed his profile photo during the Lok Sabha elections hinting that he may switch his loyalty to Shiv Sena (UBT). Although Kiran Samant remained with the Shinde faction, he did not hide his ambition to enter electoral politics.

"The number of major contender parties increased due to splits in the last five years. Due to the one-upmanship between the Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi, a lot of aspirants tweaked their plans for getting nominations. Instead of taking any risks, all party leaders took all precautions to keep candidates within the family like children, wives, daughters, sons-in-law and brothers. The winnability was considered as the leading factor for the selection of nominees even though they are from the families," said a Mahayuti minister. He, however, admitted that it will have to be seen how the cadres and supporters of ruling and opposition parties react and vote.

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Waikar, who deserted Uddhav Thackeray ahead of the Lok Sabha election and won from the Shinde faction, was another beneficiary of dynasty politics. Waikar's wife Manisha was nominated from the Jogeshwari Assembly constituency. Shiv Sena legislator Lata Sonawane was replaced by her husband Chandrakant Sonawane from the Chopada (reserved) constituency. Similarly, Shiv Sena sitting legislator Chimanrao Patil withdrew from electoral politics, paving the way for his son Amol Patil nomination from the Erandol constituency.

In Ajit Pawar led-NCP, a senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal was renominated from the Yevala constituency and his son Pankaj Bhujbal was recently nominated to the Maharashtra Legislative Council from the Governor’s quota. Incidentally, Bhujbal's nephew and former MP Sameer Bhujbal was expected to contest as an independent from the Nandgaon seat against Shiv Sena nominee and sitting legislator Suhas Kande.

Similarly, the NCP was expected to nominate Nawab Malik from Mankhurd Shivajinagar and his daughter Sana Malik from the Anushaktinagar constituency. The NCP was yet to announce the duo's nominations in the wake of BJP's strong objection against fielding Nawab Malik.

Shiv Sena-UBT renominated Aaditya Thackeray, the son of party president Uddhav Thackeray, from Worli constituency. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray’s son Amit will debut in electoral politics by contesting from the Mahim constituency.