Sharad Pawar's Aides, Political Strongmen: 8 MLAs Who Took Oath With Ajit Pawar

Along with Ajit Pawar, eight other NCP MLAs took oath as NDA ministers in Maharashtra on Saturday.

Here are the NCP MLAs who have joined NDA government in Maharashtra along with Ajit Pawar. 

(Photo: Altered by Aroop Mishra/ The Quint)

National Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, thus joining the National Democratic Alliance government led by Eknath Shinde. He will share the post of Maharashtra’s Deputy CM along with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis. While Pawar is said to have the backing of at least 40 MLAs, eight have been sworn in as ministers at the Raj Bhavan, joining the government with him.

Here is a list of the eight NCP MLAs who have been sworn in as ministers along with Pawar.

Chhaggan Bhujbal 

Chhaggan Bhujbal is presently an MLA from Yeola constituency in Nashik district. Bhujbal started his political career with the Shiv Sena, back in the 1960s.

In 1991, Bhujbal left the Sena and joined Congress, under Sharad Pawar’s aegis. Later, when Pawar formed the NCP, Bhujbal followed him there. A five-time MLA, Bhujbal is a prominent OBC leader in Maharashtra. He was previously made the deputy CM in 1999, and was always seen as a hardcore Sharad Pawar loyalist.

Dilip Walse-Patil

Dilip Walse-Patil is a seven-time MLA from the Ambegaon constituency which falls in Western Maharashtra. Like Bhujbal, he too was seen as a Sharad Pawar loyalist and one of his closest aides. In the early years of his political career, Patil served as the political secretary to Pawar. Since then, he has gone on to hold multiple important ministries, including most recently the home ministry.

Hasan Mushrif 

Hasan Mushrif is a five-time MLA from Kagal constituency in Western Maharashtra. Mushrif was most recently the labour minister of the state, and has in the past been involved in agitations and protests on a number of issues such as demonetisation. Mushrif is a noted Muslim face of the NCP.

Dhananjay Munde

Dhananjay Munde is a first-time MLA, and represents the Parali assembly constituency. Earlier the opposition leader in the Maharashtra legislative council, he is the nephew of late Gopinath Munde, one of the tallest BJP leaders in the state until his demise in a car accident in 2014.

Aditi Tatkare 

Aditi Tatkare is the first woman to be sworn in in the Shinde cabinet. She is the daughter of NCP leader and Lok Sabha MP Sunil Tatkare, who had served as an MLA for many years before turning to Lok Sabha. Tatkare is a first-time MLA, representing the Shrivardhan constituency, and was a minister of state in the earlier Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Sanjay Bansode 

Sanjay Bansode is an MLA from Udgir and is considered a close aide of Ajit Pawar. He joined the NCP in late 1990s as a party worker in the Latur district. He contested on an NCP ticket and won becoming a first-time MLA in 2019, and also held a position in the cabinet ministry in the MVA.

Bansode is a from a Buddhist Ambedkarite family who had participated in the 1980s' Namantar movement.

Aatram Dharamraobaba Bhagwantrao 

Aatram Dharamraobaba Bhagwantrao, more popularly known as Baburao Aatram, is an MLA from the Aheri Assembly constituency in Gadchiroli city. A tribal leader, he has a significant following among grassroot workers.

Anil Bhaidas Patil  

Anil Bhaidas Patil is an NCP MLA from the Amalner constitunecy who also served as the chief whip of the party in the Maharashtra assembly.

While they were not inducted in the state cabinet, NCP MP and recently appointed NCP working president Praful Patel and former deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal were also presentat the ceremony. Ajit Pawar has claimed that as many as 40 NCP MLAs are backing him.