From an obscure company to being the youngest mayor of Nagpur, to the first BJP chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis is steadily climbing the political ladder, as he looks poised to take the state’s top post for a third time.
In an environment heavily dominated by Maratha politics and politicians, the 54-year-old leader, who has deep roots in the RSS, is only the second Brahmin after BJP’s Manohar Joshi broke away from the Shiv Sena to become the state’s chief minister. Ahead of the 2014 assembly polls, the soft-spoken leader was the clear favorite for the post, largely because of the confidence he had in both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leader Amit Shah.
“Devendra is Nagpur’s gift to the country,” Modi said of him at an election rally. Although Modi launched a blitzkrieg campaign in the 2014 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra elections, part of the credit also went to Fadnavis, then BJP president, for the party’s unprecedented electoral victory. The son of Jan Sangh and later BJP leader Gangadhar Fadnavis, the former Nagpur politician and former party chief Nitin Gadkari called him his “political mentor”, Devendra cut his teeth in politics at an early age when he joined the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, students. Wing of RSS, 1989.
At the age of 22, he became a company on the public road of Nagpur and its youngest Mayor in 1997 at the age of 27.
Fadnavis contested his first assembly election in 1999 and won. There was no looking back as he won the next three assembly elections. He currently represents the Nagpur South West seat in the House. Unlike many leaders across the spectrum of politics in Maharashtra, Fadnavis has remained untainted by corruption allegations.
Among Maharashtra’s most vocal politicians, Fadnavis is also credited with pushing the previous Congress-NCP government into a corner over the irrigation scam.
Fadnavis faced problems after the 2019 assembly elections as then Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray pulled out of the pre-poll alliance over sharing the CM post, derailing the BJP leader’s much-hyped “mee punha yein (I will come. back again) slogan.” . Fadnavis was sworn in for the second time as the chief minister on November 23, 2019 and Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the deputy chief minister.
However, before the Supreme Court passed a no-confidence motion, Fadnavis resigned from his post on November 26, three days after being sworn in as CM. Uddhav Thackeray, supported by Sharad Pawar-led NCP, later became CM, but quit after senior Sena leader Eknath Shinde split the party and later became CM.
After Thackeray stepped down following mass defections from the Sena, many political observers assumed that Fadnavis, who they knew was the mastermind behind the episode, would become the CM.
However, the BJP leadership had other plans and a reluctant Fadnavis was asked to take over as Deputy CM. His tenure in the last two-and-a-half years as Deputy Chief Minister has seen a resurgence, and Saturday’s results come as the long-awaited cherry on top of the cake.
Despite coming from a politically active family, his father and aunt both serving in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Fadnavis has forged his own political identity.
Fadnavis’ first term as CM was marked by a combination of good governance and effective political planning.
He won praise for his drive to speed up infrastructure projects, winning favor especially with urban voters.
However, his time was full of challenges. The government suffered heavy crop losses due to erratic weather, and its refusal to waive loans to affected farmers sparked widespread protests. Another major issue during his tenure was the Maratha community who wanted him to be reserved for education and government jobs.
Although he passed a law to meet these demands, the Supreme Court’s subsequent decision that struck down the law left many in the Maratha community dissatisfied, accusing Fadnavis of failure.
The 2019 assembly elections marked a major change in Fadnavis’ political trajectory. The Shiv Sena’s refusal to join the government unless they shared the post of Chief Minister led Fadnavis to seek another alliance with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar. However, this government was not short-lived, it fell just after 72 hours.
Fadnavis then assumed the post of Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly. In June 2022, following a defection within the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, Fadnavis was ordered by the BJP leadership to return to the government as Deputy CM under Shinde.
Although initially reluctant, Fadnavis accepted the role, showing his loyalty to the party leadership. Even after a heavy loss in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he played a key role in organizing the seat-sharing arrangement between the BJP and Shinde’s party.
Saturday’s results of the state assembly polls, overwhelmingly in favor of the BJP, will determine the next phase of Fadnavis’ career, which has been defined by endurance, flexibility, and strategic acumen. In an ever-changing political environment, Fadnavis’ ability to adapt and make smart decisions can be very important for him and his team.
