Nandurbar district has become a hub of political instability and opportunism that have recently come to define Maharashtra’s political landscape, especially in the aftermath of shifting alliances ahead of the Assembly elections. The Gavit family, led by state tribal development minister Vijaykumar Gavit, seems to epitomise the district’s fluid politics.

Four members of the Gavit family – including Vijaykumar’s daughter and former BJP MP Heena – are set to contest the Assembly elections from Nandurbar’s all four constituencies, with two representing the arch rivals, the BJP and the Congress, and the other two contesting as the Independents against former allies.

At the centre of the Gavit clan is Vijaykumar Gavit, 69, a six-time MLA from Nandurbar (once as an Independent, thrice with the undivided NCP, and twice with the BJP) who has served as a cabinet minister in Maharashtra under various governments for over two decades.

In Gavit’s home turf of Nandurbar district, where nearly 70% of the population are tribals and which has long been ranked at the bottom of the state’s Human Development Index, residents have a per capita income at just one-tenth of the state average, leaving many heavily dependent on government assistance. This has, for decades, tied the district’s electorate to political dynasties, particularly the Congress, with the Gandhi family enjoying a significant following in the area. But this has also fostered a network of political fiefdoms, with families like the Raghuvanshis and Naiks, which included leaders like Batesingh Raghuvanshi and Surupsingh Naik, wielding considerable influence over the district affairs.

In 1995, Vijaykumar Gavit left his position as a professor of medicine just two months before the state Assembly elections to challenge the entrenched political dominance of the Raghuvanshi and Naik families in the district. Running as an Independent, he pulled off a win, marking the beginning of his political career. His campaign was supported by his younger brothers – Sharad, a Class IV employee in the state transport corporation, and Rajendra, a clerk in the state secretariat.

After his victory, Gavit initially aligned himself with the BJP-Shiv Sena government which inducted him as a Minister of State. However, over the years, his political journey saw several shifts. He moved to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and served as a minister under the Congress-NCP coalition, and in 2014, he eventually joined the BJP. During this period, Gavit also encouraged his brothers to contest elections, backing them with tickets from various political parties.

In 2009, Sharad Gavit represented Nawapur as a Samajwadi Party MLA, then fought the 2014 elections unsuccessfully on an NCP ticket, and later contested the 2019 elections as an Independent, again without success. Rajendra Gavit, meanwhile, filed his nomination for the Shahada seat in 2014 as a Shiv Sena candidate, but later jumped ship to contest as an NCP candidate, only to be defeated.

That same year, Vijaykumar managed to secure a victory for his daughter Heena, who won the Nandurbar Lok Sabha seat as a BJP candidate in 2014 and retained it in 2019, before losing it to the Congress in 2024.

Now, the Gavit family has set its sights on the November 20 state Assembly polls, with each member contesting from a different constituency in the district. Vijaykumar is himself contesting on a BJP ticket against the Congress’s Kiran Tadvi in the Nandurbar seat.

After recently quitting the BJP, Rajendra is contesting from Shahada as a Congress candidate, taking on sitting BJP MLA Rajesh Padvi. Sharad is contesting as an Independent from Nawapur, where he will compete against sitting Congress MLA Shirish Naik and the NCP’s Bharat Gavit.

Heena Gavit is contesting as an Independent in Akkalkuwa, where she will take on the Congress’s sitting MLA K C Padvi and the Shiv Sena’s Aamshya Padvi.

In her nomination speech, Heena expressed confidence about her chances. “We have a strong chance of dethroning the sitting MLA. The Shiv Sena’s local unit has been unhelpful and worked against the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. We have a stronger claim on this seat, as the Sena has nominated someone who was defeated in the previous election. It is for these reasons that I have decided to quit the BJP and fight this election as an Independent.”

While the Gavit family asserts that their motivation is the development of Nandurbar, several locals seem to strike a discordant note.

“Dr Gavit is a survivor in politics,” says Geetesh More, a local activist. “By fielding family members across various parties, he’s hedging his bets. No matter which way the electoral tide turns, at least one person from the family will be on the winning side.”