265 Talukas Declared Drought-Hit, Heavy-Rain Mahabaleshwar Included While Excluded Ministers Spark Political Storm in Maharashtra
The BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra is facing pressure from within its own ranks over the list of 265 drought-hit talukas announced on Saturday with its leaders and legislators also questioning the exclusion of their constituencies, even as the Opposition alleged that the notification reflects “political bias”.
The controversy comes less than four months after the state government announced the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar farm loan waiver scheme.
The inclusion of talukas such as Mahabaleshwar, Radhanagari and Shrivardhan, known to receive relatively high rainfall, has also raised questions over the transparency of the drought assessment process, including the rainfall and crop-condition parameters used to determine eligibility.
Inclusion and exclusion
An analysis of the notified list shows that talukas corresponding to the Assembly constituencies of 28 ministers have been included in it. These include Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar’s Baramati, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule’s Kamthi, Chhagan Bhujbal’s Yeola, Girish Mahajan’s Jamner, Gulabrao Patil’s Jalgaon Rural, Dada Bhuse’s Malegaon Outer, Sanjay Rathod’s Digras, Uday Samant’s Ratnagiri, Pankaja Munde’s Parli, Dattatray Bharne’s Indapur, Aditi Tatkare’s Shrivardhan, Makarand Jadhav Patil’s Wai-Mahabaleshwar and Prakash Abitkar’s Radhanagari.
The list also includes talukas linked to constituencies represented by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (Nagpur South-West), Sanjay Shirsat (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), Nitesh Rane (Kankavli), Akash Fundkar (Khamgaon), Babasaheb Patil (Ahmadpur), Indranil Naik (Pusad) and Meghana Sakore-Bordikar (Jintur).
However, talukas represented by some ministers – Shambhuraj Desai (Patan), Hasan Mushrif (Kagal), Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil (Shirdi), Narhari Zirwal (Dindori), Yogesh Kadam (Dapoli) and Bharat Gogawale (Mahad) have been left out.
The exclusions have fuelled questions over whether the selection was based solely on objective indicators or whether political considerations played a role.
There are altogether 358 talukas across 36 districts in Maharashtra.
Mahayuti’s internal pressure
The government has also faced questions from within the ruling camp. An audio clip of BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Chavan, in which his supporters question him over the exclusion of Mudkhed taluka, has gone viral. In the clip, Chavan is purportedly heard asking his supporters to bear the anger of citizens for some time.
BJP MLA Sumit Wankhede also wrote to Fadnavis seeking the inclusion of his constituency, Arvi, in the drought list. His request was subsequently approved by Fadnavis, after which Wankhede deleted the letter from social media.
MVA hits out
The development has led to the Opposition MVA levelling allegations of discrimination at the government.
“The government should feel ashamed for playing politics with drought. While farmers across Maharashtra are suffering from severe drought, the shameless Mahayuti government is engaging in discriminatory politics while declaring drought-affected areas,” said Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar.
Wadettiwar alleged that the Brahmapuri taluka, which he said was severely affected, had been left out. “Not a single minister visited the areas represented by Opposition MLAs. Farmers are asking the government: Are the farmers in Opposition-held constituencies not part of Maharashtra?” he asked.
The Opposition has also questioned the nature and scale of the relief announced by the government.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has written to Fadnavis with 17 demands, including financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh per hectare for farmers.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar said the relief measures announced so far were inadequate. “On one hand, the CM says this is a drought more severe than the 1972 famine, and on the other, they announce utterly hollow relief measures,” he said.
Sharad Pawar argued that instead of waiving farm tax and examination fees, the government should waive crop loans, provide Rs 1 lakh per hectare to farmers and Rs 25,000 to farm labourers. Referring to Fadnavis’ assurance that “sarsakat (across the board)” compensation would be provided to farmers, he said the Opposition would pressure the government to implement the assurance.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray also questioned the government’s response to the drought. “Despite the notification, and given the severity of the drought, farmers are distressed and troubled,” he said, pointing to drinking-water shortages, lack of water for livestock and rising farmer suicides.
Drought situation
The drought is expected to have a wider economic impact, with the loss of the 2026 kharif season likely to hit the state’s rural economy.
“Farmers are the backbone of the rural economy. The drought has left no money and spending power with them. This will affect the economy to a great extent,” a senior official from the Relief and Rehabilitation Department said.
The controversy has also brought renewed scrutiny on the state’s water-conservation measures, including Jalyukta Shivar, a flagship programme associated with Fadnavis that involved measures such as widening and deepening river and nullah beds.
Fadnavis has said that exclusion from the drought notification would not mean that an area would be denied assistance.
After a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, the CM said, “We will ensure that those areas which are not in the list will get assistance through different schemes,” he said.
