Balasaheb Thorat

Balasaheb Bhausaheb Thorat
B. B. Thorat in 2020
Cabinet Minister Government of Maharashtra
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 November 2019
Minister	Revenue
Governor	Bhagat Singh Koshyari
Chief Minister	Uddhav Thackeray
Preceded by	Chandrakant Bacchu Patil
In office 2004–2014
Minister	Revenue Agriculture, Water Conservation, Employment Guarantee Scheme School Education
Governor	Mohammed Fazal, S.M. Krishna, S.C. Jamir, Kateekal Sankaranarayanan, Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao
Chief Minister	Vilasrao Deshmukh, Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan
Succeeded by	Eknath Khadse Girish Dattatray Mahajan
Minister of State, Government of Maharashtra
In office 1999–2004
Minister	Agriculture
Governor	P.C. Alexander, Mohammed Fazal
Chief Minister	Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde
Member of Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra
Incumbent
Assumed office 1985
Preceded by	Bhausaheb Thorat
Parliamentary group	Indian National Congress
Constituency	Sangamner
President of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee
In office 07 July 2019 – 5 February 2021
National President Indian National Congress	Sonia Gandhi
Preceded by	Ashok Chavan
Succeeded by	Nana Patole
Leader of INC Legislative Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 November 2019
National President Indian National Congress	Sonia Gandhi
Preceded by	Prithviraj Chavan
Secretary of Maha Vikas Aghadi
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 November 2019
President	Uddhav Thackeray
Chairperson	Sharad Pawar
Preceded by	Position established
Personal details
Born	Vijay Bhausaheb Thorat (1953-02-07) 7 February 1953 (age 68)
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Indian National Congress
Other political affiliations	Independent
Children	3 daughters & 1 son
Residence	Jorve, Taluka Sangamner, District Ahmednagar, Tapalcha Patta, Sudarshan, 7 Shivjinagar, Sangamner--422605
Education	Fergusson College B.A, ILS Law College, Pune L.L.B
Nickname(s)	Balasaheb

Balasaheb Bhausaheb Thorat (Marathi pronunciation: [baːɭaːsaːɦeb t̪ʰoɾaːt̪], born 7 February 1953) is an Indian politician currently serving as minister for revenue in Maharashtra state.^[1] He is an Indian National Congress legislator from Sangamner constituency.

Thorat is a key figure in the cooperative movement and is the founder of a milk co-operative and former president of the Sangamner District and State Cooperative Bank.

He is recognised for his work in Sangamner taluka and Akole taluka. He has founded cooperative educational institutions in Sangamner. Previously, he served as Minister of Agriculture and as , and Khar Lands in the Government of Maharashtra.^[2][3][4][5]

Early life[]

Balasaheb was born on 7 February 1953 to late Bhausaheb Thorat. He was named as Vijay. His father Bhausaheb Thorat was a peasant leader in Maharashtra and a one-time legislator from Sangamner constituency. Bhausaheb Thorat defeated the then political heavyweight of Maharashtra B. J. Khatal-Patil, a minister in the Maharashtra's government for sixteen-years, in the 1978 Assembly elections as a candidate of INC.

Education[]

Thorat obtained his LLB degree from ILS Law College, Pune in 1977 and BA from Ferguson college, Pune University in 1975.

Political career[]

He began his political career as an Independent and fought the Sangamner Vidhan Sabha seat and won with a margin of 10,159 votes on Shakuntala Khanderao Horat. From then he never looked back and won 8 assembly elections never getting defeated in any elections as a candidate of INC.

He was the Minister of State for agriculture in the first Vilasrao Deshmukh's government. Later in 2004 he was elevated to the rank of cabinet minister along with Anil Deshmukh of NCP. He was one of those few leaders in Maharashtra who served as ministers in the 15-year Congress-NCP alliance. He served as the minister of Agriculture, Water Conservation, Employment Guarantee Scheme and Additional charge of School Education in Prithviraj Chavan's cabinet. He is a well-known and a leading face in the cooperative movement of Maharashtra. His nephew Satyajeet Tambe Patil is also a politician in Ahmadnagar district and a two-time member of Ahmadnagar Municipality. He always helps to poor people of sangamner and Akole taluka

Thorat was made as the MPCC chief in 2019 when Ashok Chavan resigned following the weak performance of the party in the Lok Sabha elections. Thorat had to battle with the large-scale defections from his party to the ruling alliance. Due to defections the congress's tally in the assembly fell down decisively.

Under his leadership the party improved its tally from 31 legislators in the assembly to 44 legislators. After the 2019 political turmoil in Maharashtra with the formation of a post-poll alliance called Maha Vikas Aghadi by the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena, Balasaheb was sworn in as a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray administration.

Balasaheb is a low-profile leader and is respected by everyone for his clean image in politics.

Political statistics[]

Positions held[]

• 1985–present - Member of Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra.
• 1999–2004 - Minister of State for Agriculture, Govt of Maharashtra
• 2004-2014 - Cabinet Minister, Govt of Maharashtra
• 14 July 2019 – 5 February 2021 - PCC Chief, Maharashtra
• 26 November 2019 - Incumbent - Congress Legislative Party leader, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
• 28 November 2019 – Present - Cabinet Minister for Revenue, Govt of Maharashtra
• 8 January 2020 - Guardian minister Kolhapur
• Permanent invitee - Congress Working Committee

References[]