Maharashtra: The Gandhi family, starting from India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru has been a dominant force in Indian politics. However, only two members of the Gandhi family are currently in positions of power in the country. On the other hand, with Sunetra Pawar almost finalised as a member of the Rajya Sabha on June 13, the extended Pawar family has welcomed another member into its political clan. At the moment around 5 members of the Pawar, family are serving in the Centre or the State. With the upcoming assembly elections, there are talks of two more members making their political debut.
Pawars in Power: MPs: Sharad Pawar (Rajya Sabha), Supriya Sule (Baramati Lok Sabha) and Sunetra Pawar (Rajya Sabha)
MLAs: Ajit Pawar (current Deputy CM of Maharashtra) and Rohit Pawar
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Ahead of assembly elections, Ajit Pawar's son Paarth Pawar and Shrinivas Pawar's son Yugendra Pawar are talking about ticketing to run for MLA post. It took 7 years for Supriya Sule to become an MP in Rajya Sabha whereas Sunetra Pawar will make her way to Delhi within 10 days of her defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. Pune Division sends 8 MPs to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and it is worth noting that the Pawar clan's power allows it to play a major role in Pune-Delhi relations.
While the Pawar family boasts many members in positions of power, the Deve Gowda from the Karnataka family has an impressively large number of elected/nominated leaders.
Deve Gowda Family:
MPs: H D Deve Gowda (Rajya Sabha), H D Kumaraswamy (Lok Sabha), CN Manjunath (Lok Sabha)
MLAs: H D Revanna, Anitha Kumaraswamy
H D Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister of India and Chief Minister of Karnataka is currently serving as a member of the Rajya Sabha, representing Karnataka. His son H.D. Kumaraswamy recently became Union Minister of Heavy Industries after getting elected as MP from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency. Kumaraswamy's wife Anitha is also an MLA from Karnataka's Ramanagara constituency. Deve Gowda's other son, H.D. Revanna is a member of the legislative assembly in Karnataka. His son Prajwal Revanna has been an MP previously and was defeated in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections owing to a scandal involving sex tapes. Revanna's other son Nikhil also tried his hands at politics but was defeated in the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections. Finally, Deve Gowda's son-in-law CN Manjunath, was recently elected as MP from Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha seat. It is important to note that these are Deve Gowda's immediate relatives. Several long-distance relatives and cousins are also occupying positions of power owing to their association with the former prime minister.