Bhausaheb Thorat defeated the then political heavyweight of Maharashtra B. J. Khatal-Patil, a minister in the Maharashtra's government for sixteen-years, in the 1978 Assembly elections as a candidate of INC. Thorat obtained his LLB degree from ILS Law College, Pune in 1977 and BA from Ferguson college, Pune University in 1975.
He began his political career as an Independent and fought for the Sangamner Vidhan Sabha seat and won with a margin of 10,159 votes on Shakuntala Khanderao Horat.
He served as the minister of Agriculture, Water Conservation, Employment Guarantee Scheme and Additional charge of School Education in Prithviraj Chavan's cabinet.
Thorat was made the MPCC chief in 2019 when Ashok Chavan resigned following the weak performance of the party in the Lok Sabha elections.
After the 2019 political turmoil in Maharashtra with the formation of a post-poll alliance called Maha Vikas Aghadi by the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena, Thorat was sworn in as a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray administration.