‘Modern Abhimanyu’ Fadnavis Breaks Chakravyuh, Back As Maharashtra Chief Minister – News18

Last Updated:December 04, 2024, 12:05 IST

In the entire election campaign, and even after the big win, Fadnavis did not lay claim to the CM’s chair and left it to the Prime Minister

“I am like the ocean; I will return”— Devendra Fadnavis has often cited this line since 2019 when he was virtually robbed of the chief minister’s chair by Uddhav Thackeray, who switched camps to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Even in 2022, when the Mahayuti returned to power, Fadnavis had to contend with a “demotion” to deputy CM.

This got him constant taunts from Uddhav Thackeray and his party, which often described Fadnavis as being outdone by the political chakravyuh. Supriya Sule of the NCP often took potshots, saying, “What can one Fadnavis do alone?” The 2024 Lok Sabha election debacle for the Mahayuti in Maharashtra was also laid on the door of Fadnavis, as the BJP fared badly under his leadership. It seemed to many that the Fadnavis story was over, and his competitors in the BJP believed so.

But in the mother of all comebacks, Fadnavis has led the BJP to its best-ever performance in Maharashtra with 132 seats at a phenomenal 85% strike rate just six months later. He has also reclaimed the CM’s chair. “Main modern Abhimanyu hun, main chakravyuh todna bhi janta hun, aur jitna bhi janta hun (I am a modern Abhimanyu who knows how to breach the chakravyuh and win),” was the favourite poll slogan of Fadnavis during the election campaign.

Many in the BJP also attribute it to Fadnavis’s strategy that the Shiv Sena and NCP splits happened in Maharashtra over the past two and a half years. While Fadnavis always said these parties broke up due to their patriarchs preferring their sons or daughters over the more deserving candidates, one cannot discount the fact that the BJP leader was silently chipping away at these conflicts. Ultimately, he has humbled both Uddhav and Supriya Sule.

Fadnavis is also among the handful of leaders in the BJP whom both PM Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat have a fondness for.

Fadnavis always had an ace up his sleeve—the RSS. Born into a family deeply entrenched in the Sangh ideology, he began his political journey with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, which is the student wing of the RSS. His father’s strong and unwavering association with the organisation further cemented his image as a loyal swayamsevak, a factor seen as crucial and significant in navigating Maharashtra’s politically volatile and sensitive landscape.

This is a relationship that Fadnavis has nurtured over the years, including seeking the RSS’s help against “vote jihad” after the Lok Sabha results went against the BJP. Soon after the polling was over in Maharashtra, Fadnavis dutifully paid a visit to Bhagwat at the RSS headquarters to thank the RSS for its groundwork in the polls. The RSS subsequently made it clear to the BJP that Fadnavis was its choice for the CM after the BJP had secured a record 132 seats.

What PM Modi likes about Fadnavis is his strong loyalty to the BJP ideology and his devotion to the cause of development and building infrastructure in the most prosperous state of the country. It was under Fadnavis’s watch as CM till 2019 that big infrastructure projects like the Samruddhi Mahamarg from Nagpur to Mumbai were envisioned and launched. Projects like the coastal road, Atal Setu, and the Metro in Mumbai also became a reality in Mahayuti 2.0.

As one of the youngest mayors of Nagpur in 1997 and then an MLA continuously from a seat in Nagpur since 1999, Fadnavis has proven his political mettle and his hold over the key region of Vidarbha. When the crucial moment came in 2022 to make a “sacrifice” for the sake of loyalty towards his party discipline, Fadnavis slipped into the deputy CM role without any complaints and waited for his turn. This was something that has endeared Fadnavis even more to PM Modi.

In the entire election campaign, and even after the big win, Fadnavis did not lay claim to the CM’s chair and left it to the Prime Minister. In the words from the song of the classic Mumbai-spirit movie Gully Boy, Fadnavis always believed that “Apna time aayega”.