JALNA

At the time of India’s independence, the region that now forms Jalna district was part of the princely Hyderabad State, ruled by Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan. In 1948, following the police action known as Operation Polo, Hyderabad was annexed into the Union of India, and by 1950, it was formally integrated. Under the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, the Hyderabad State was dissolved, and its Marathi-speaking regions, including Jalna, were merged into the Bombay State. With the implementation of the Bombay Reorganisation Act in 1960, the Bombay State was bifurcated into Gujarat and Maharashtra, and Jalna became part of Maharashtra. Finally, in 1981, Jalna was carved out as a separate district, formed from parts of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Parbhani talukas.

The Jalna district comprises the Jalna Lok Sabha Constituency and, partially, the Parbhani Lok Sabha Constituency. The Jalna Lok Sabha Constituency includes 6 Vidhan Sabha segments: Jalna, Badnapur (SC), Bhokardan, Sillod, Phulambri, and Paithan. Only the first 3 fall in the Jalna district; the rest are part of the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (previously Aurangabad) district. There are 2 other Vidhan Sabha segments, part of the Parbhani Lok Sabha, that fall in the Jalna district: Partur and Ghansangwani. However, the current chapter will focus only on the Jalna Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha segments that comprise it. For other Vidhan Sabha segments that fall in the Jalna District, namely Partur and Ghansangwani, please refer to the chapter on Parbhani’s Local Politics.

Within the Vidhan Parishad, the Jalna district is represented by the Aurangabad Graduates, Aurangabad Teachers, and Aurangabad-Jalna Local Bodies constituencies. The Graduates and Teachers’ Constituencies are based on the administrative divisions of Maharashtra.

The given maps provide an overview of the boundaries of the Jalna district and the Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha Constituencies that fall within and around it.

Based on records from the delimitation reports by the Election Commission, the given chart provides an overview of the changes that have occurred in the composition of the Jalna Lok Sabha constituency and the reshuffling of the Vidhan Sabha constituencies with every delimitation that has been done.

The current Member of Parliament (MP) representing Jalna district in the Lok Sabha, as of 2024:

The following are the current Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) representing constituencies in Jalna district, as of 2024:

Pankaja Munde of the BJP currently serves as the Guardian Minister of Jalna district.

The following table lists the current Members of the Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad representing Ratnagiri district through various constituencies, as of 2024:

The following are the key administrative heads of Jalna district, as of 2024:

In May 2023, the Urban Development Department issued a draft notification proposing the elevation of the Jalna Municipal Council to the status of a Municipal Corporation. If approved, Jalna would become the 29th Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra. Currently, the district comprises 4 Municipal Councils, 4 Nagar Panchayats, and 782 Gram Panchayats.

Following the administrative reshuffle in Maharashtra in July 2023, Dr. Shrikrishnanath B. Panchal (IAS) was appointed as the Collector and District Magistrate of Jalna. Within the Zilla Parishad, Varsha Meena (IAS) serves as the Chief Executive Officer, and Anirudh Khotkar (SHS) is the President.

The Jalna district has four Municipal Councils that govern key urban centres in the region. These include the Jalna Municipal Council, Bhokardan Municipal Council, Partur Municipal Council, and Ambad Municipal Council. Each plays a role in managing civic amenities, infrastructure, and local governance within their respective towns.

In addition to the Municipal Councils, there are four Nagar Panchayats that administer smaller urban settlements. These are the Ghansawangi Nagar Panchayat, Japharabad Nagar Panchayat, Mantha Nagar Panchayat, and Badnapur Nagar Panchayat. They are responsible for local development and basic civic administration in emerging towns.

During the recent 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, out of the 26 contesting candidates, nine of them had criminal cases declared against them, out of which four had serious criminal cases against them. The elected MP, Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale, has two criminal cases against him.

In the latest Vidhan Sabha Election (2019), a total of 79 candidates contested from the Jalna district. Around 20% of them had criminal cases registered against them, with more than half of them being serious criminal cases. Out of the 20%, almost half of them were Independent candidates. Jalna Vidhan Sabha saw the highest number of candidates with criminal cases.

Currently, out of the five elected MLAs from Jalna District, three of them have cases against them. INC MLA Kailas Gorantyal from Jalna has four serious criminal cases against him, and BJP MLAs Tilakchand Kuche from Badnapur and Babanrao Lonikar from Partur have one case against them each.

The Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM), the umbrella body representing all Maratha organisations in Maharashtra, called for a day-long bandh in Jalna District in December 2022 after the Maharashtra Governor made offensive remarks about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Along with the shops being shut per the bandh, a rally was organised in Jalna city, too. The bandh was supported by the Congress party, with the Congress MLA of Jalna, Kailash Gorantyal, even appealing to the shopkeepers to support the bandh and keep their shops closed.

In February 2017, a riot occurred in the Partur taluk of Jalna district during the celebration of Shiv Jayanti. The riot reportedly began when a demonstration reached the Malang Chowk area ,and some people tore down green flags. This led to objections from the Muslim community, who were then met with stone-pelting. After which, Muslim shops and vehicles were damaged. Although the police controlled the situation quickly after, they arrested innocent people too, which again heightened the tensions in the area.

Between September and October 2023, several districts in Marathwada experienced widespread protests led by Jarange Patil, a native of Jalna, advocating for the inclusion of the Maratha community in the OBC category for reservations in government jobs and education. Patil's Maharashtra tour, which began in Antarwali Sarati, Jalna, culminated in a massive public rally on 14 October 2023. At the same location, Patil had also begun a hunger strike to press for Maratha reservations.

Tensions had earlier escalated on September 2, when police attempted to take Jarange Patil to the hospital on the advice of the doctors. This led to clashes between protestors and the police, resulting in injuries to around 40 police personnel and the torching of several vehicles. In the aftermath, the police registered cases against 360 individuals for their involvement in the violence.

A few km away in the village of Wadigodri, leaders of the OBC community, namely Laxman Hake, along with Navnath Waghmare, also went on a hunger strike in June 2024 to counter Jarange Patil and his demands for the inclusion of the Maratha community in the OBC category for reservations. They fear that such an inclusion would harm the existing OBC reservations.