Ram Shankar Shinde is a politician, who is serving as the 7th and current chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council since 19 December 2024. He also serves as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council. He has previously served as a member of the 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. He represented the Karjat Jamkhed Assembly Constituency. He belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party.^[1] He was appointed Maharashtra's minister of state in December, 2014^[2] and was given responsibility of the home portfolio as well as for public health, agriculture, horticulture, marketing and tourism. He was also made guardian minister of Ahmednagar district. On 8 July 2016 in cabinet expansion he was promoted to cabinet rank and given charge of the water-conservation ministry.^[3]