Balasaheb Thorat

Vijay Bhausaheb Thorat (Marathi pronunciation: [baːɭaːsaːɦeb t̪ʰoɾaːt̪], born 7 February 1953), known popularly as Balasaheb Thorat, is an Indian politician who served as the revenue minister in Maharashtra state. He also served as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Thorat is a senior member of the Congress Party. He is an MLA 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. He is currently (as at July 2024) President of Amrutvahini College of Engineering. Previously, he served as Minister of Agriculture and as Minister of Revenue, and Khar Lands in the Government of Maharashtra.

Early life
Thorat 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 for the Sangamner Vidhan Sabha seat and won with a margin of 10,159 votes on Shakuntala Khanderao Horat. Thereafter, he won 8 assembly elections without being 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.

Thorat was made 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, Thorat was sworn in as a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray administration.

Thorat resigned as the leader of the Congress in Legislature in 2023.

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 - 2023 - Congress Legislative Party leader, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
 * 28 November 2019 – 2023 - Cabinet Minister for Revenue, Govt. of Maharashtra
 * 8 January 2020 - Guardian minister Kolhapur
 * Permanent invitee - Congress Working Committee