Devendra Fadnavis emerges as Maharashtra’s man of the moment

DEVENDRA FADNAVIS, the political stalwart who rose from humble beginnings to become a key figure in Maharashtra politics, is on course to regain chief minister’s post - a position he has held twice before.

The 54-year-old leader, whose career has been marked by a blend of resilience and strategic manoeuvring, is positioned to lead the state for the third time following a decisive showing of the BJP in the assembly polls.

Fadnavis' political journey has been nothing short of remarkable. From serving as an obscure corporator to becoming the youngest mayor of Nagpur, he has strengthened his status as a prominent leader within his party.

Notably, he is only the second Brahmin to serve as Chief Minister of Maharashtra, following the Shiv Sena's Manohar Joshi.

His ascent began in earnest ahead of the 2014 assembly elections, where he garnered significant support from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leader Amit Shah. Modi famously referred to him as "Nagpur's gift to the country" during a campaign rally, underscoring the confidence placed in Fadnavis.

Though Modi had launched a campaign blitzkrieg in the 2014 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly polls, a portion of the credit also went to Fadnavis, then state BJP president, for the party's unprecedented victories in the elections.

Son of Jan Sangh and later BJP leader late Gangadhar Fadnavis, whom his fellow Nagpur politician and former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari calls his "political guru", Devendra cut his teeth in politics at a young age when he joined Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the students wing of RSS, in 1989.

At 22, he became a corporator in the Nagpur civic body and its youngest Mayor in 1997 at the age of 27.

Fadnavis contested his first assembly election in 1999 and won. There was no looking back for him as he won three subsequent assembly elections. He was poised to retain his Nagpur South West seat comfortably on Saturday.

Fadnavis experienced a setback in the aftermath of the 2019 assembly elections as the then united Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray pulled out of the pre-poll alliance over sharing of CM’s post, shattering the BJP leader’s much-hyped “mee punha yein (I will come back again) slogan.

Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister for the second time on November 23, 2019 and Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the deputy chief minister. However, before a Supreme Court-ordered no confidence motion could take place, Fadnavis quit on November 26, three days after taking oath as the CM.

Uddhav Thackeray, propped up by Sharad Pawar-led NCP, later became the CM, but quit after senior Sena leader Eknath Shinde split the party and later became the CM.

After Thackeray demitted office following the large-scale desertions in the Sena, many political observers thought that Fadnavis, who they knew was behind the episode, would become the CM. However, the BJP leadership had other plans and a reluctant Fadnavis was asked to occupy the deputy CM’s post.

His tenure in the last two-and-a-half years as Deputy Chief Minister has seen a marked resurgence, and Saturday’s results come as the much-awaited cherry on the cake.

Though he hails from a politically active family, his father and aunt both served in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Fadnavis has crafted his own distinct political identity. (PTI)