Opinion: Opinion | How Devendra Fadnavis Emerged As A CM Favourite Again

In 2019, he was mocked for being too self-assured and over-confident about being voted back to office with his mi punha yein (I will return) campaign line. It had perhaps even ruffled his one-time ally—the Shiv Sena, then undivided—so much so that the two parted ways. Five years later, after leading his party to a historic victory, it was obvious that Devendra Fadnavis would be the natural choice to become the chief minister once again.

Ideally, it should not have taken so much time to declare Fadnavis as the chief minister as he was always the BJP’s first choice. However, the compulsions of coalition politics had forced the party to proceed cautiously, even as a saffron tsunami swept through the state. Sources within Maharashtra BJP, familiar with the decision-making process, agree that there was no alternative before the party leadership. It had to be Fadnavis as the extent of the victory could not have been achieved without him at the helm. This is why, while accepting the encomiums showered on him, Fadnavis tactfully affirmed the slogans “Ek Hai To Safe Hai” and “Modi Hai To Mumkin Hai”.

Credit Where Due

There was an unmistakable stamp of Hindutva in his first speech after being entrusted with the responsibility of leading the BJP-led Mahayuti government once again. His brief remarks acknowledged the kind of mandate the BJP had received—emerging as the single largest party, winning a record 132 out of 288 assembly seats. His comments recognised the efforts of BJP and RSS cadres, who worked silently behind the scenes, toiling from dawn to dusk to make this victory possible. RSS sources noted that it wasn’t the first time Fadnavis had acknowledged the Sangh’s role in the unprecedented poll victory.

“He did refer to RSS’s contribution right at the outset when he declared the role of various organisations that had contributed to the BJP’s victory. Of course, he did not mention RSS by name,” pointed out an RSS functionary. Fadnavis struck a fine balance and noted that the Constitution “is sacrosanct to us.”

It is significant that PM Modi is keen that the new government should get down to business at the earliest, given the magnitude of the verdict. That is why Modi and Shah chose Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as one of the central observers for the BJP legislators’ meeting to elect a new chief minister. Sitharaman’s presence set the development agenda for the new government. Soon after declaring Fadnavis as the popular choice of the MLAs, Sitharaman brought the economic agenda of governance to the forefront.

In the backdrop of the Lok Sabha poll results, she described the Maharashtra verdict as a “mandate for Viksit Bharat”. She highlighted the development of the Wadhwan port in Palghar with an investment of Rs 76,000 crore and also spoke about making Mumbai the fintech capital. “The decision of 14 crore people of Maharashtra sends a message to the rest of the country. This is not just a regular Assembly election. After the Lok Sabha polls, the results of Haryana and Maharashtra have made the people’s decision clear,” she added. The overwhelming vote for the BJP was a result of frustration with the uncertainty of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government, she added. She recalled how bullet trains could have become a reality in India if there had been no uncertainty following the 2019 assembly polls.

The Caste Question

Yet, nagging doubts persist as to whether the state elections have brought closure to the disquiet in social equations. Would the return of Fadnavis—a Brahmin from Vidarbha— as CM once again not encourage dominant caste groups like the Marathas to exploit caste fault lines? Both BJP and RSS functionaries cite the emphatic victory across the state as proof that caste fault lines have been rendered irrelevant. “The elections have made the caste matrix irrelevant. The only thing that will matter is development and creation of more jobs and opportunities for the people. Our government will have to focus on deliveries,” points out a Maharashtra BJP leader. The BJP’s record performance in the caste cauldrons of Vidarbha, Marathwada, and North Maharashtra should exorcise the ghosts of caste warlords from the state, feel RSS strategists. The caste of the Chief Minister hasn’t been an issue, they assert. It was so only until 1995. That ended when the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance rode to power for the first time.

“It was the confidence of Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray that he appointed Manohar Joshi as the first Chief Minister of the Mahayuti. He was not bothered about caste or region. He had supreme confidence in himself; he believed the mandate was for him. After Joshi moved out as Chief Minister (because of SC observations) in January 1999, some people advised Balasaheb to go for a Maratha CM. That’s how he opted for Narayan Rane—a Maratha from the Konkan region,” pointed out a BJP leader. “We stayed out of power for nearly 15 years. We managed to return with the Modi wave. Fadnavis became the Chief Minister. The Congress gained from the mistake we made in 1999. As for civic elections, we don’t want to worry. We did well in 2017 under Fadnavis. We hope to do well again,” observed a party leader.

BJP sources believe that after the 2024 assembly polls, Maharashtra could witness significant political realignment. There is speculation that the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) could come together. As for the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, it is believed that the patriarch of Maharashtra politics lost out mainly because he approached voters without a positive vision. “He is highly respected but was seen targeting individual candidates, something that was missing in his nephew Ajitdada’s outreach. People were put off by that,” observed one leader.

(Lakshmi Iyer is a journalist who has been covering politics for four decades in Delhi & Mumbai. She is on X @liyer)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author