Sunil Tatkare

Tatkare was born on 10 July 1955 in Mumbai to Dattatray Tatkare and Geeta Tatkare. He was raised in Kolad, a town in the Raigad district of Maharashtra. His father, Dattatray Tatkare, was a respected local leader who served as the Chairperson of the Panchayat Samiti in the Raigad District Council for 17 years, laying the foundation for the family's longstanding political influence in the region.

Tatkare completed his higher secondary education at Kolad High School, and went on to pursue Inter Science at Fergusson College, Pune, although he did not complete the degree. Before entering politics, he worked as a government road contractor.

Tatkare began his political journey in 1984 by joining the Indian National Congress. In 1985, he contested his first election from the Mangaon constituency for the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly but lost. In the 1990 elections, he was denied a party ticket, temporarily halting his electoral run. However, he gained ground politically when he served as the President of the Raigad Zilla Parishad from 1992 to 1995.

In 1995, he was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from the Mangaon constituency and went on to represent it for three consecutive terms until 2009. During this period, he became a senior figure in the newly formed Nationalist Congress Party and held several key ministerial positions in the Maharashtra state government. He served as the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies from 2004 to 2008, was appointed Energy Minister in 2008, and became the Finance Minister in 2009. In 2010, he was given charge of the crucial Water Resources portfolio, a position he held until 2014.^[2]

In 2009, following the delimitation of constituencies, Tatkare contested and won from the newly formed Shrivardhan constituency, serving as its MLA until 2014.^[3] In the same year, he contested the Raigad Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 general elections, but was defeated by Shiv Sena leader and sitting MP Anant Geete.^[4]

Following this setback, he was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council and served as a Member of the Legislative Council from 2014 to 2018.^[5] In the 2019 general elections, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Raigad in the Lok Sabha ^[6] and retained the seat in the 2024 elections.^[7] On 3 July 2023, following the split in the NCP, he was appointed State President of the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) in Maharashtra.^[8]

Sunil Tatkare is married to Varda Tatkare. The couple has two children, Aditi and Aniket, both of whom are active in Maharashtra politics. He is the most prominent figure of the Tatkare family, which holds significant political influence in the Raigad district and Konkan region.

His daughter, Aditi Tatkare, is a Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for Shrivardhan and currently serves as the Minister for Women and Child Development in the Maharashtra government.^[9] His son, Aniket Tatkare, served as a Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council representing the Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Local Authorities Constituency from 2018 to 2024.^[10]

Tatkare’s elder brother, Anil Tatkare, has also served as an MLC for the Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg local authorities.^[11] His nephew, Avadhut Tatkare, was elected as an MLA for Shrivardhan and served a term from 2014 to 2019.^[12]

Tatkare has faced several allegations over the years. The Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sought permission from the state government to conduct an open inquiry against him in cases relating to land grabs and disproportionate assets.^[13] The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also initiated a probe into his alleged accumulation of wealth beyond known sources of income.^[14]