Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got a landslide victory in the Maharashtra assembly elections. This great victory also gave the party a headache which has become a challenge for it to fix. He should give the command of the state to victory hero Devendra Fadnavis or to ally Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde. Discussion regarding this is going on in the party high command. Maharashtra BJP leader Fadnavis and Shiv Sena leader Shinde are demanding to be made the Chief Minister. Amidst the demands of the leaders and the churning of the high command, Devendra Fadnavis is a strong contender for the post of CM. The reason for this is not just the huge victory in the elections.
RSS support to Fadnavis
Devendra Fadnavis started his political career with ABVP. His father also remained associated with the organization. Fadnavis is an old BJP person. He is the face of the party in Maharashtra. In 2014, he was handed over the command of the state. He had completed his tenure of 5 years, which is history. After this, when BJP formed the government with Shinde, Fadnavis was given the responsibility of deputy.
Considering Fadnavis’ stature in Maharashtra and his loyalty towards the party, RSS has also supported him for the post of CM. An RSS official told a media house that Fadnavis has been the leader of all the MLAs. It was because of his face that BJP got people’s support. If he is given the responsibility, it will also strengthen the coordination between BJP and RSS in Maharashtra.
After voting in Maharashtra on November 20, Devendra Fadnavis reached the Sangh headquarters in Nagpur, where he met Mohan Bhagwat. Sangh also played an important role in BJP’s victory. RSS had launched an extensive contact campaign to generate public opinion in favor of BJP. Before the elections, RSS had started this campaign. Fadnavis had also said that he had sought help from the Sangh to contest the assembly elections after BJP’s seats in the state were reduced in the Lok Sabha elections.
Ajit Pawar also in favor
Ajit Pawar, leader of NCP (Ajit faction), an important party of Mahayuti, is raising his voice for Devendra Fadnavis for the post of CM. Actually, there is a good relationship between Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis. In 2019, when BJP formed the government for a few hours, Ajit Pawar became the Deputy CM.
If Eknath Shinde is made the CM, Shiv Sena will get a clear lead over NCP, which Ajit would hardly accept.
NCP leaders say that it was agreed to support Fadnavis in internal meetings. Senior party leader Chaggan Bhujbal said, there is no reason why we should oppose Fadnavis as CM. An NCP spokesperson said that the party has clearly told the BJP leadership that Fadnavis should be given first priority as CM.
experience of running a government
Devendra Fadnavis also has experience of running the government. He has been the CM of the state for 5 years. He held this post from 2014 to 2019. After this he remained Deputy CM in the Mahayuti government.
Devendra Fadnavis was accused of dividing two parties. He had to face criticism. Fadnavis faced all this and maintained his composure and worked very well with allies Shiv Sena and NCP.
Taking responsibility for the poor performance in the Lok Sabha, Fadnavis had offered to resign, but following orders from the central leadership, he continued in the post. But in the Assembly, he implemented BJP’s strategy on the ground and the Grand Alliance under the leadership of BJP achieved a record victory.