Mumbai: Devendra Fadnavis, a committed and dedicated BJP and RSS activist, fighter, and leader with a development vision, will become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the third time.
Despite the relentless taunts and insults from the opposition, particularly Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, Fadnavis remained steadfast, taking the BJP’s agenda to the people while also forging alliances with Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and NCP headed by Ajit Pawar.
Undeterred by the BJP’s dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections, Fadnavis, with tacit support from the BJP’s state and central leadership backed by a powerful RSS network, worked relentlessly to improve the party’s tally.
Fadnavis, with meticulous planning and strategic thinking, adjusted the party’s strategy for the state Assembly election by reaching out to the OBCs, especially in light of pro-Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil’s stance. His calculated move paid off as the OBC community overwhelmingly supported BJP, leading the party to a record 132 seat-win after contesting 149 constituencies.
Fadnavis focused on strengthening the party organisation at the level of one lakh plus booths across Maharashtra. While doing so, he ensured that not only BJP candidates but also Mahayuti nominees benefited. His plan was quite clear: the Mahayuti alliance should reach a magic figure of 145 in the 288-seat state Assembly while countering the opposition’s fake narrative.
Fadnavis, an ace administrator and strategist, used all possible tactics to outsmart the opposition, especially puncturing their “save constitution” and cancelling the reservation narrative.
He took to the voters the pro-development agenda by promoting the Mahayuti government’s slew of welfare and development schemes, including the Ladki Bahin Yojana, which created magic in favour of the BJP and Mahayuti in general. As a politically conscious and alert leader, Fadnavis succeeded in putting the opposition parties in the wrong box over their statements that if voted to power, they would stop the Ladki Bahin Yojana and several other schemes.
Fadnavis, who led the state during 2014 and 2019, also blamed the opposition for tarnishing Maharashtra’s image by painting a bleak picture of economy and investments. He cornered the opposition by projecting how Maharashtra has regained the top position in attracting investments during Mahayuti’s tenure from the third position during the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
As a close confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Fadnavis will seek his guidance and the central government’s assistance to ensure the smooth functioning of the ‘double-engine sarkar’ in Maharashtra.
However, he faces several challenges, including mobilising funds for various development and welfare schemes, curbing revenue and fiscal deficits, increasing employment, providing higher procurement prices to cotton and soybean farmers in particular, and stopping the increasing crimes against women.
However, his supporters and well-wishers claim that there is no word impossible in Fadnavis’ directory, and he will take Maharashtra to a new level by converting all odds into opportunities.
Ahead of the 2019 Assembly elections, Fadnavis announced in his concluding speech at the last session of the state legislature that he would return—”Mi Punha Yein (I will return).”
The opposition ridiculed it then. He became the CM for the second time for 72 hours after Ajit Pawar ditched him, and the government did not survive. After the collapse of Maha Vikas Aghadi’s government, he became the deputy chief minister. And now Fadnavis has come back with full force and a strong mandate to start his third innings.
Sanjay Jog–IANS
