At the moment, the phrase 'rise like a phoenix from the ashes' suits most to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis. The 54-year-old leader was elected the BJP legislative party leader on Wednesday, setting the stage to take the oath as the Maharashtra Chief Minister - a position he has held twice before.
The BJP stalwart, who rose from humble beginnings to become a key figure in Maharashtra politics, braved several political upheavals in the last five years.
Fadnavis's political career has been marked by a blend of resilience and strategic manoeuvring in the complex political scenario in Maharashtra. Since Fadnavis took centre-stage in the Maharashtra BJP, he checkmated friend-turned-foe Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Maharashtra stalwart Sharad Pawar's National Congress Party (NCP), and Congress.
Before the Fadnavis era, the BJP was considered the younger brother of Shiv Sena, but the BJP leader, with his unparalleled political acumen, enabled his party to become number one in the state.
Fadnavis emerged as the undisputed 'Chanakya' of Maharashtra politics. Many questioned his leadership after a dismal show in the recent Lok Sabha Elections 2024, but he, undeterred by criticism, continued to make strategies to bounce back, and the results are before us. The Mayayuti received a landslide victory with the BJP winning 132 seats.
Since the separation of the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena five years ago to date, he has overcome several political challenges, including in-fighting in the BJP. Fadnavis successfully made a truce with Pankaja Munde, daughter of late Gopinath Munde and a prominent Other Backward Classes (OBC) face in the party. Fadnavis convinced rebels to withdraw or remain loyal towards the party, and he did this in the era when switching sides became a new norm in Maharashtra.
Here are five occasions when Fadnavis outsmarted his rival like a true political champion:
- In October-November 2019, despite victory in the Assembly elections, the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) was not able to form the government as ally Shiv Sena was hellbent on the Chief Minister's post, which was considered a huge setback for Fadnavis as he was the front-runner for the top job. The tussle between Fadnavis and Thackeray went on for over a month, but the BJP leader did not blink; as a result, Shiv Sena deserted the BJP and joined MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi), which was termed an 'unnatural coalition,' seeding a revolt that two years later came out when Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde split the party.
- In June 2022, Shiv Sena witnessed an unusual revolt led by then Maharashtra minister Shinde. He, along with several party MLAs and MPs, moved to Gujarat and Assam, citing party leaders were feeling uncomfortable working with Congress leaders. Subsequently, a rare event happened, and Shinde broke away from Thackeray's camp. He later joined hands with the BJP and formed the government. The saffron party gave him the CM post. Fadnavis was accused by Thackeray of splitting his party.
- Since the BJP was the biggest party in the state, everyone was thinking that Fadnavis would become the Chief Minister of the state, but, in a surprising move, he agreed to be the deputy of Shinde. This was seen as a masterstroke by the BJP leader.
- Fadnavis not only weakened his rival Shiv Sena but also the NCP, which was helmed by Sharad Pawar, who is considered the most senior leader in the state. The BJP leader somehow convinced Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar to join the NDA. After failing in the first attempt in November 2019, Fadnavis, in the second attempt, succeeded in bringing junior Pawar into the NDA fold. This was astonishing for political experts, as breaking a party that was being led by a seasoned leader like Sharad Pawar was not an easy task. Eventually, Sharad Pawar lost his party's ownership. Now, the main NCP is with Ajit Pawar.
- Congress had always been in the role of a big boss, but in the last decade, the grand old party saw an unusual decline as most of the top leaders switched sides. Former CM Ashok Chavan joined the BJP. Several top Congress leaders, including Milind Deora and Sanjay Nirupam, joined Shinde's Sena. It was reported that Fadnavis was behind the scenes to rope in leaders from the rival parties.
