NANDURBAR

At the time of India’s independence, the area that now forms Nandurbar district was part of the larger West Khandesh District within the Bombay State. Following the Bombay Reorganisation Act of 1960, Bombay State was divided into the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. West Khandesh was subsequently renamed Dhule and became part of Maharashtra. On 1 July 1998, the Dhule district was bifurcated to create two separate administrative districts: Dhule and Nandurbar.

The Nandurbar district consists of the Nandurbar Lok Sabha, which includes the following Vidhan Sabha segments: Akkalkuwa, Nandurbar, Navapur, Sakri, Shahada, and Shirpur. Only Sakri and Shirpur among the Vidhan Sabha segments are situated outside the Nandurbar district, in the Dhule district.

Within the Vidhan Parishad, the Nandurbar District is represented by the Dhule-Nandurbar Local Bodies Authorities Constituency, the Nashik Teachers’ Constituency, and the Nashik Graduates Constituency. The Graduates and Teachers’ Constituencies are based on the administrative divisions of Maharashtra.

The given maps provide an overview of the boundaries of the Nandurbar 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 Nandurbar Lok Sabha constituency and the reshuffling of the Vidhan Sabha constituencies with every delimitation that has been done. Before the formation of the district in 1998, the Nandurbar Lok Sabha constituency was located in the Dhule district.

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

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

There is no member from the Nandurbar district currently in the Rajya Sabha.

The Guardian Minister of Nandurbar district is Manikrao Kokate from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

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

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

There are 5 Urban Local Bodies in the District: 4 Nagar Parishads, 1 Nagar Panchayat. There are 585 Gram Panchayats and 6 Panchayat Samiti.

Nandurbar Zilla Parishad was established on 1 July 1998 after the bifurcation of Nandurbar out of Dhule district.

Nandurbar district has three municipal councils (Nagar Parishads): Nandurbar, Nawapur, and Shahade, along with Talode, which also functions as a Nagar Parishad.

Nandurbar has one town council (Nagar Panchayat) in the district: Dhadgao Nagar Panchayat.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, there were 11 contestants from Nandurbar. Three of these contestants had criminal cases against them and none of them had serious cases against them. The elected MP, Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi, has no criminal cases against her.

In the 2019 Vidhan Sabha election, there were a total of 40 contestants from the six Vidhan Sabha constituencies of Nandurbar, out of which 12 contestants had criminal cases against them, with four having serious cases. The candidate with the highest number of criminal cases registered was an independent candidate.

The elected MLAs from Nandurbar, Sahada, and Shirpur had cases registered against them. The MLA from the Nandurbar seat, Vijaykumar Krushnarao Gavit of the BJP, had nine cases registered against him.

The Narmada Bachao Andolan was a protest movement against the displacement of indigenous communities due to large dam projects on the Narmada River, including the Sardar Sarovar Dam. In Nandurbar district, Manibeli village in Akkalkuwa taluka became one of the earliest and most significant sites of resistance. It was the first village in Maharashtra to be submerged by the dam in the early 1990s, triggering years of protests led by local residents. Villagers opposed the project due to the loss of land, homes, and livelihoods, and the lack of proper rehabilitation. The Manibeli Satyagraha became a powerful moment of the struggle, with residents refusing to leave even as the rising dam waters surrounded their huts. Despite multiple displacements over the years, many affected families continued to protest against inadequate compensation, faulty land allotments, and the government's failure to fulfill rehabilitation promises. Their prolonged resistance highlighted the long-term human cost of development projects in tribal regions like Nandurbar.

On 19 September 2024, communal clashes broke out in Nandurbar following a dispute between two groups over the passage of an Eid-e-Milad procession. The violence resulted in injuries to seven policemen, and a mob set fire to a house and attempted to ignite LPG cylinders. The unrest soon spread to areas such as Navnath Tekdi and Shahdulla Nagar. In response, a case of attempted murder, rioting, and other charges was registered against more than 250 individuals, with 55 people taken into custody.