Maharashtra Candidates for Chief Minister
Ashok Chavan
Ashok Chavan, who succeeded Vilasrao Deshmukh in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, inherited the political legacy from his father Shankarrao Chavan, who had also served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra earlier.
Born on October 28th, 1958, Ashok Chavan won the Lok Sabha poll from the Nanded constituency in 1987-88. Following that in 1992, he became an MLC from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly constituency and then there was no looking back.
As a Maratha leader, he rose to be the Minister of State for Public works, Urban Development and Home in March 1993. Later, he served as the General Secretary of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee from 1995 to 1999. And in 2003 became Minister for Transport, Ports, Cultural Affairs and Protocol.
In November 2004, Chavan became Minister for Industries, Mining, Cultural Affairs & Protocol in the Deshmukh government.
Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra till the 26/11 Mumbai attacks had to resign following his controversial visit to Taj Hotel with Film Director Ram Gopal Varma early December in the aftermath of the assault on the hotel.
Deshmukh, a law graduate, was born on May 26, 1955 in the Latur district of Maharashtra. He began his career with social activities like drought relief work, and also served as the Director of Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank in 1979.
His stint with active politics began in the year 1974 when he became the member of the Babhalgaon Village Panchayat chief. He rose to be the president of Osmanabad District Youth Congress from 1975 to 1978. Following this, he became the president of the district wing of the Indian National Congress. Subsequently, as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 1980 to 1995 he served as the Minister of State and the Cabinet Minister in varied departments such as Home, Public Works, Transport, Tourism, Agriculture, Industry, Rural Development etc.
Though he lost the 1995 polls, Deshmukh was re-elected to the State Legislature from Latur Constituency in 1999 with a huge margin. Sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on October 18, 1999, the multi-faceted leader was CM till January 17, 2003 when he had to pave way for Sushil Kumar Shinde. But not to be bowed down so soon, Deshmukh got re-elected to the State Legislative Assembly from his constituency in the 2004 elections and once again became the Chief Minister of the state in Nov 2004.
Currently, as a Rajya Sabha MP, Vilasrao Deshmukh is with the Council of Ministers as Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in the Manmohan Singh government.
Chhagan Bhujbal, a powerful OBC leader from the Mali community, was born on October 15, 1947 and started his political career with the Shiv Sena. Later in 1991, he resigned from the party to join the Congress party.
When Maharashtra’s political stalwart Sharad Pawar decided to form the Nationalist Congress Party over the foreign origin issue of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Bhujbal joined him.
He rose in political stature when he became the Deputy Chief Minister of the state in 1999 when the first coalition government of the Congress and the NCP was sworn in.
Currently serving as the Public Works Minister of Maharashtra, Chagan Bhujbal is also the state’s Deputy Chief Minister.
Gopinath Munde was born on December 12, 1949 in Mumbai and began his political tenure in 1971 when he joined the BJP-erstwhile Jan Sangh. An MP from the Beed constituency, Munde is an OBC leader with a strong mass base. He worked with his brother-in-law Pramod Mahajan to expand the party at the local level.
Munde rose to be the national general secretary of the BJP and was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 with a record number of votes.
A force to reckon with in state politics, Gopinath Munde has also served as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state earlier.
