Members of royal families, descendants of politicians feature prominently in Maharashtra cabinet

Members of royal families, their cousins, scions of political dynasties, as well as politicians with rags-to-riches stories have become a part of the Maha Yuti ministry as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis undertook the first ministerial expansion on Sunday.

Fadnavis and the two Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde, the chief leader of Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar, the NCP President, have chosen the Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State with a two-and-a-half-year rotational policy and performance audits.

The list includes two royal family members - Shivendra Raje Bhosale and Jaukumar Rawal.

Shivendra Raje, who is MLA from Satara, is the cousin of Satara BJP MP Shrimant Chhatrapati Udayan Raje Bhosale, the 13th descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Shivendra Raje’s father Abhaysinh Raje Bhosale was also an MLA.

Jaykumar Rawal, who represents Sindkheda in Dhule district, is a member of the Dondaicha royal family. His grandfather Dadasaheb Rawal was an MLA.

Cousins Dhananjay Munde and Pankaja Munde figure in the list as well. While Pankaja is a BJP MLC, Dhananjay is an NCP MLA from Parli in Beed district.

Pankaja is the daughter of late BJP stalwart and former Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde and niece of late BJP leader and former union minister Pramod Mahajan. Dhananjay is the son of Pandit Anna Munde, the brother of late Gopinath Munde.

Former CM and ex-Leader of the Opposition in Assembly Narayan Rane’s son Nitesh Rane, a three-time MLA from Kankavli in Sindhudurg district, was inducted as a minister. His brother Nilesh Rane is a Shiv Sena MLA from neighbouring Kudal. The senior Rane now represents the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat.

NCP MLA Indranil Naik, who represents Pusad in Yavatmal, also finds a space in the team. He is the grandson of former CM Vasantrao Naik and nephew of former CM Sudhakarrao Naik.

The seniormost among the Cabinet ministers is Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, the eight-term MLA from Shirdi in Ahmednagar district. His father, the late Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, was a central minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Vikhe-Patil's grandfather, Vitthalrao Vikhe-Patil, founded the first sugar cooperative factory in Loni. Vikhe-Patil has served in several governments and was Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.

Shiv Sena MLA and minister Yogesh Kadam’s father Ramdas Kadam was a Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly.

Aditi Tatkare's father is the NCP's state president, who is considered close to Ajit Pawar.