Has Devendra Fadnavis replaced Sharad Pawar as new 'Chanakya of Maharashtra politics'?

Mumbai: Two-time Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis seemed to have emerged as the new 'Chanakya of Maharashtra politics', replacing veteran politician and NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar - a former Union Minister.

Fadnavis, who was criticised by the Opposition for his 'Mi Punha Yein' (I will return) remarks, worked relentlessly for the success of BJP and MahaYuti, putting behind the disappointing show in the Lok Sabha elections.

The chorus has been growing in the BJP for Fadnavis to be made the chief minister for the third time in the wake of the party's stellar performance as it has improved its 2019 tally by winning 126 seats.

Political analysts believe the results have also shown that Sharad Pawar's charisma and strategy have failed while Fadnavis' stature as a strategist who ensured victory for the party has further consolidated.

The BJP had bagged 122 seats in the 2014 Assembly elections when the party's leadership appointed Fadnavis as the chief minister bypassing senior leaders including an OBC leader Eknath Khadse.

After the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP emerged as a single largest party by winning 105 seats. Fadnavis joined hands with NCP leader Ajit Pawar to become chief minister and deputy chief minister for eighty hours.

However, he stepped down after Ajit Pawar went back to the then undivided NCP headed by his uncle Sharad Pawar.

Thereafter, Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government took over when Fadnavis became the leader of opposition in the state assembly and targeted the government on a number of issues.

After the BJP leadership decided to appoint Eknath Shinde as the Chief Minister following his rebellion in June 2022, Fadnavis initially opted not to be a party to the MahaYuti government. However, after the BJP top brass' intervention, he became the Deputy CM and worked in close co-operation with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

With the blessings of central leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, Fadnavis crafted the Assembly poll strategy with a view to make up for the loss of votes to the BJP and the MahaYuti during the general elections.

He, along with the party in charge of the state, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav did a micro-planning to reach out to every section of the society in a serious bid to checkmate the opposition's narrative of 'Constitution change' and scrapping reservations.

Moreover, Fadnavis and the party organisation also focused on luring the OBC and sub-castes to avoid adverse impact in the wake of backlash from the Maratha community amid the pro-Maratha protests led by Manoj Jarange-Patil.

Fadnavis and Yadav separately held a series of meetings with OBC and sub castes to ensure they vote overwhelmingly to BJP and MahaYuti.

After the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue in Sindhudurg district, Fadnavis became alert and took Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar into confidence to curb the backlash following the unfortunate incident.

This was also a calculated move to lure the Maratha community and also to send a strong message that Chhatrapati Shivaji is the pride of Maharashtra and the government will do everything to safeguard it.

As the Opposition was targeting the government over the Badlapur rape incident in which two minor girls were molested and other crimes in the state, Fadnavis as a Home Minister declared that the state government will act firmly against culprits involved in such cases. He also successfully targeted Maha Vikas Aghadi over the arrest of former home minister Anil Deshmukh in the alleged extortion case.

What has further helped Fadnavis to tighten his grip over the party was strong backing from the RSS and its affiliates.

Fadnavis, who has never hidden his ties with the RSS, worked in tandem with the RSS team which firmed up a comprehensive plan to reach out to nearly 1 lakh booths across the state for helping the party organisation to boost the voters turnout.

He held timely meetings and supervised the implementation of a plan of action prepared by the RSS which worked 24x7 for the BJP's success.

Further, the RSS' move to bring in 'Batenge To Katenge' and 'Ek Hai To Safe Hai' calls helped the BJP to further strengthen its Hindutva plank.

Undeterred by charges by Opposition leaders including Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi of polarisation, the BJP continued to take up these slogans that yielded positive results.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's criticism of Congress for playing divisive politics and its projection as anti-SC, ST and OBC also helped BJP and MahaYuti in a big way to get massive support from these sections of the society.

In the wake of the BJP's 'mega performance' due to Fadnavis' deep planning and machinations, the chorus is growing in the BJP for Fadnavis to be made the chief minister for the third time in the view of the party's stellar performance as it has improved its 2019 tally by winning 126 seats.

Fadnavis was targeted by all the parties in the Maha Vikas Aghadi but he has outsmarted the opposition due to his pro-development image and 'military-like precision' planning.