FORMATION OF POLITICAL ELITES AND ECONOMIC BACKGROUND: CASE STUDY OF WESTERN MAHARASHTRA

Abstract

The current study attempts to enquire how does elite class evolves and develops within a minority group of a particular religious sect (Community) like Lingayat community. Similarly the researcher has studied the changes occurring in the structure of elite class and the means employed by such class to maintain its social status and dominance. In the process of formation of elites, elections play an important role, it is for study is based on elections. The region of western Maharashtra is selected as an area of research inquiry.

It is interesting to unravel how a particular community within a specific region attempts to develop its political clout with the help of multiple means of dominance like forging alliances with political groups, economic institutions and other structural institutions like Credit Society, Agricultural Product Market Committee (APMC), Milk Dairies, Sugar Cooperatives Factory, Spinning Mills, Cooperative Banks, Business Organizations, Educational Institution, Caste Organization and Religious Organization etc.

The researcher wish to maintain that in the context of changing nature of local Politics, the nature of political elite in Maharashtra has also undergone structure change. It is further argued that such structural changes have led to develop of new trends in the realm of elite Politics in Maharashtra. For instance in Maharashtra there has been an emergence of a neo political elite class i.e. those who are not traditionally from dominant caste group, but have been representatives of small caste groups like Lingayat, Mali, Dhangar and Jain etc. the study is based on data collection by personal interviews of Elected Members (Interview Schedule is attached) of Zilla Parishad, Municipal Corporation and MLA and MP between “1990-2013” from Lingayat community in Western Maharashtra (Solapur, Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur, Pune and Ahmednagar District).