Maharashtra CM: What could tilt Mahayuti scales in favour of Fadnavis
Devendra Fadnavis appears to have the backing of ally NCP, RSS, Independents and even the powerful bureaucracy, which considers him a good administrator
by Dhaval S. Kulkarni · India TodayIn Short
- Mahayuti's victory sparks power struggle among BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP.
- Shinde's supporters want him as CM to weaken Uddhav Thackeray's base.
- BJP credits Fadnavis for victory, RSS and bureaucracy back him.
In the decade of the 1990s, a political legatee of a veteran leader from Maharashtra had taken a short-lived plunge into national politics. The politician, who is now a mass leader in his own right, recalled how a senior industrialist expressed consternation at how his political mentor was vacillating between staying back in Maharashtra or taking to national politics. The industrialist urged it was necessary for the veteran to stay on in Mumbai. For, as he reasoned, the position of the chief minister of Maharashtra carried a heft next only to that of the prime minister.
As the state which also has India’s financial capital apart from the highest rate of industrialisation and urbanisation, the position of the chief minister of Maharashtra is a coveted one. The Mahayuti’s landslide victory has led to a fresh round of jockeying among its three major constituents—the BJP, chief minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Shinde’s partisans credit him with the swashbuckling victory of the alliance and want him to have another shot at the top post. They reason that this will help Shinde further chip away at the already depleted base of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).
The elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are due next year, and a Shiv Sena chief minister at the helm may serve this purpose better than his counterpart from the BJP. Shiv Sena leaders also cite the ‘Bihar model’ wherein Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) continues in office as chief minister despite having fewer seats than ally BJP. This, they reason, will grant an element of continuity.
However, BJP leaders believe that much of the credit for the victory must go to deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of their party. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is also said to be in favour of Fadnavis, who happens to be the only chief minister of Maharashtra, apart from the late Vasantrao Naik, to complete a full five-year term.
A senior BJP leader reasoned that despite being the leader of the victorious alliance, Shinde needed to contend with the fact that “the rising sun will set at the end of the day”.
Fadnavis had a short-lived stint as chief minister with Ajit Pawar as his deputy, and then had to play second fiddle to Shinde as his deputy chief minister. BJP leaders claim that Fadnavis’ elevation is a given. Sources said Pawar and the NCP are also backing Fadnavis over Shinde as is a section of the state’s powerful bureaucracy, which rates Fadnavis as a good administrator.
The lack of strong competitors in the party—some like Eknath Khadse are with the Sharad Pawar-led faction of the NCP—and the marginalisation of those like Pankaja Munde and Vinod Tawde in state politics have made the elevation of Fadnavis an almost given, the BJP leader reasoned.
Fadnavis can also count on the support of five Independents and the legislators of smaller parties, such as Vinay Kore Savkar of the Jana Surajya Shakti, which has two MLAs, and Ratnakar Gutte of the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP).
In case Fadnavis is made chief minister, Shinde may be accommodated as deputy chief minister. There are precedents to that as chief ministers of Maharashtra like Shankarrao Chavan, Shivajirao Nilangekar Patil, Narayan Rane and Ashok Chavan, have been brought in as cabinet ministers later. Shinde or his son Dr Shrikant Shinde, who is a third-term MP from Kalyan, may also be accommodated in the Union cabinet.