What underlies BJP's thinking in picking its ministers from Maharashtra?
In Modi's 71-member cabinet, six members hail from Maharashtra, with four representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and two from allied parties
In Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 71-member cabinet, six members hail from Maharashtra, with four representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and two from allied parties. Modi has chosen to reinstate two senior figures from the state, Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal, both of whom played pivotal roles in previous Modi administrations. Additionally, Modi has selected two new faces from among the BJP's 17 elected MPs in Maharashtra: Raksha Khadse and Murlidhar Mohol. Senior leader Narayan Rane, who served as the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the previous Modi government, and former Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad were not included in the new cabinet.
The question arises: why has the BJP chosen these two new faces? Raksha Khadse, elected for the third time to the Lok Sabha from the Raver constituency in north Maharashtra, is one of the two women BJP MPs from the state. Her inclusion in the Union Ministry is seen as a boost for her father-in-law, former BJP leader Eknath Khadse, who had joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after accusing top state BJP leaders of sidelining him. The Leva Patil community, to which Khadse belongs, has a strong presence in parts of north Maharashtra and played a role in the BJP's victory in two Lok Sabha seats from Jalgaon district.
Murlidhar Mohol, a Maratha elected from Pune on a BJP ticket, is the party's representation from the politically crucial western Maharashtra region. The BJP won only two out of ten seats in this area, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) secured five seats. The BJP ally Shiv Sena won two seats, and an independent supported by the Congress emerged victorious in Sangli. The region will be significant for the three-party ruling alliance, Mahayuti, if it aims to return to power in the upcoming assembly elections scheduled for September-October this year. Mohol's promotion comes amidst the BJP's efforts to appease the Maratha community, which is displeased with the state government's handling of Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil's agitation for Maratha quota issues. Notably, the BJP chose Mohol over Udayanraje Bhonsle, a direct descendant of Maratha king Shivaji Maharaj, who was elected from Satara.
Modi has also reinstated Dalit leader Ramdas Athawale, a move that gains significance in light of the en-bloc voting by socially backward communities in favour of opposition parties in Maharashtra. This voting pattern was a reaction to allegations that the BJP would alter the country's Constitution if re-elected with a resounding majority. Although Athawale's Republican Party of India (A) did not secure a single seat in the three-party alliance in Maharashtra, he has been accommodated in the Union Ministry for the third time.
Regionally, Gadkari hails from Vidarbha, Goyal from Mumbai, Mohol from western Maharashtra, and Khadse from north Maharashtra. The Marathwada region, which did not elect a single BJP MP this time, has no representation in the Union Ministry. In the previous ministry, two Union Ministers, Raosaheb Danve and Bhagwat Karad, were from Marathwada. While Danve lost the election, Karad did not contest and is currently a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Meanwhile, Shinde chose Prataprao Jadhav, his most senior MP, for the lone berth his party received. Jadhav, elected from the Buldhana constituency in the Vidarbha region for the fourth time, was one of the 13 Shiv Sena MPs who joined Shinde when he split the party.