A leader of Maharashtra who established his party as the largest party for the third consecutive time. In the last 11 years, in the politics of the state, he had to face the legacy of Chanakya Sharad Pawar of state politics and Hindu heart emperor Bala Saheb Thackeray. But he did not budge. Many adverse circumstances came but he kept moving forward. We are talking about Devendra Fadnavis who is going to become the new CM of Maharashtra. His political rise came at a time when his caste had become the biggest villain for him. But he never considered it a negative aspect.
On the strength of his strategy, he becomes famous among the public as Deva Bhau and destroys all the equations and gives a huge majority to his party. But this is not enough to become Chanakya. In the party in which, a few days ago, greats like Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje had missed out on getting the post of Chief Minister under exactly the same circumstances, Fadnavis achieved it by achieving the same. That is, not only was he an expert in carrying out surgical strikes on the opposition, he also showed expertise in blunting all kinds of arrows within the party. In this way, Maharashtra politics has truly got a new Chanakya.
The Bharatiya Janata Party had repeatedly hinted at making Devendra Fadnavis the Chief Minister. But due to the way the names of Chief Ministers have been decided in BJP in the last few years, the market of rumors was hot in the political circles. Seeing the way BJP sidelined Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh and the way Vasundhara Raje was defeated in Rajasthan, everyone was seeing some doubt in the approval of Devendra Fadnavis’s name. Along with this, Devendra Fadnavis being a Brahmin was becoming the most negative for the post of CM in the current political environment. Then what were the reasons due to which this Maratha Peshwa did not meet the fate that people had suspected?
1-The path of development of BJP in Maharashtra was more difficult than Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Devendra Fadnavis is emerging as the new Chanakya of Maharashtra politics. It was very difficult for BJP to become the number one party in Maharashtra in the 2014 assembly elections. Because Shiv Sena, which had the same ideology as BJP, was already very strong in the state. But Fadnavis had proved himself by making BJP the number one party. Even before Shivraj Singh Chauhan in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan, BJP was very strong in these states and had formed the government several times. Maharashtra was very different from these states. Congress was not the only party in Maharashtra, there were many angles here in the form of Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena. The way Devendra Fadnavis played the important responsibility of making the party number one among them is enough to call him the new Chanakya of the state.
2-There is no one like Devendra Fadnavis for the complex politics of Maharashtra.
After the 2019 assembly elections, when Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray had insisted on becoming the CM, betraying the BJP, Fadnavis formed the government by defeating politicians like Sharad Pawar. It is a different matter that Ajit Pawar could not bring his party’s MLAs with him and the game was over within 80 hours. But Fadnavis had already done the work of lighting the fire. It took some time but the fire lit by Fadnavis ended Sharad Pawar’s politics in Maharashtra. Junior Pawar i.e. Ajit Pawar has become an ally of BJP. Due to his support, BJP government was running in the state for the last two and a half years. Now once again he will be with the BJP government. Perhaps this is the reason why BJP did not hear as much abuses as Fadnavis did after the breakup of Shiv Sena and then NCP. From Uddhav Thackeray to Manoj Jarange, Fadnavis had threatened to end his political career. Sharad Pawar had reached his caste. But Fadnavis did not waver. The one who heard the abuses should also get the right to wear the crown.
3-Deva Bhau made being a Brahmin a plus point instead of a negative one.
BJP was dreaming of forming government in Maharashtra politics on the strength of OBC votes. Despite this, Fadnavis was entrusted with the responsibility of holding the maximum number of rallies in the state. The party knew that promoting an OBC could anger the Marathas and giving leadership to a Maratha could lead to the loss of OBC votes. Because the Maratha reservation movement that went on for the last five years under the leadership of Jarange Patil had created a distance between the OBCs and the Marathas. In fact, OBCs felt that if Marathas got reservation, their share in the OBC quota would reduce. Perhaps this might have been the reason why the party had contested the Maharashtra assembly elections under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis.
If there was talk of people being irritated by Fadnavis being a Brahmin or by his tenure, perhaps he would not have been made the main face of the party and campaigned for it. Devendra Fadnavis held more rallies and meetings than the big leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party, PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Obviously, if Fadnavis was sidelined and someone else was made the CM, the hardworking workers would have been discouraged.
4- Did what was told like a dedicated worker
The example of dedication towards the party that Devendra Fadnavis has set is rarely seen. Perhaps this is the reason why he has emerged as a confidant of PM Modi. If he had not become the CM, there was a possibility that he would have been made the national president. Which is a dream for any party worker. Fadnavis has joined the few leaders in the country who have offered to resign if they do not get the expected success in the Lok Sabha elections. What’s more, the leader who did excellent work as the Chief Minister of the state for five years and then got his party the maximum number of seats in the assembly elections for the second time, at the behest of the top leadership of his party, decided to become the Deputy CM under a person much junior to him. Also accepted. Not only this, despite being senior and having a strong hold on the party and governance, he never gave Chief Minister Eknath Shinde a chance to complain. Otherwise, many times people come under pressure and accept a lesser position, but the pain in their heart does not let them live in peace. But Fadnavis never let us feel like this.
5-BJP not having absolute majority at the center also worked.
However, whether the Bharatiya Janata Party has full majority at the Center or not has no bearing on the selection of Fadnavis for the post of CM in Maharashtra. But the strong majority at the Center also helped in marginalizing Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh or Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan. In fact, having majority at the center gives so much moral strength to the top leadership of any party that it has the courage to take any decision. For example, if BJP takes any decision today, the Sangh can create obstacles in it. This was not the case till 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
6-BJP falls 11 seats short of absolute majority in Maharashtra.
Mahayuti has absolute majority in Maharashtra but BJP alone is not in majority. However, being less than 11 seats does not matter because if BJP wants to form the government, it can get support from independents and other parties. Many BJP leaders have won in Shiv Sena itself. Then Bharatiya Janata Party is also capable of sabotaging any party. But the party does not want to form the government in the state by doing this. In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the Bharatiya Janata Party was able to do as per its wish because the party had got a huge majority there.
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