Revenge is a dish best served cold. Super Dialogue from the world famous Hollywood movie ‘The Gogfathery’ released in 1972. A similar dialogue was uttered by Maharashtra BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis in 2019. ” Don’t look for a house on the shore thinking the tide has receded. I will definitely return to the sea. ” For two and a half years, the BJP was in the tidal wave off the coast of Maharashtra. The tide was expected but no one expected it to turn into a tsunami. After a long hiatus, the strongholds, not small trees, were destroyed on Mumbai’s political shores.
The political tsunami that hit Maharashtra not only washed away the soil at the feet of the giant Uddhav Thackeray but also plunged him into an impenetrable political maze. Fadnavis delivered the most appropriate revenge after two and a half years of freezing. And the statement as a political sacrifice above the term of the confirmed Chief Minister and the declaration that “Eknath Shinde will be the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra, I will not be part of the government.”
Following Fadnavis’ declaration of self-sacrifice for Shinde, the national media reported that ‘Shinde is the Chief Minister and the BJP will support him from outside’. Fadnavis is now at a new level of acceptance within the organization and among party supporters, with the BJP finally taking over as deputy chief minister with the intervention of the national leadership. The new Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde, has announced that the BJP has given the seat to a Shiv Sena soldier, Bala Saheb Thackeray, out of generosity. In a way, the announcement confirms the strong position of Fadnavis and the BJP in the new government.
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The Shiv Sena and the BJP, which contested the 2019 assembly polls together, split over sharing the chief ministership. Fadnavis swore in NCP leader Ajit Pawar and swore in as chief minister in the dark. But Fadnavis miscalculated that day. After 80 hours, he had to resign out of embarrassment. Uddhav handed over the blossoming dreams of the BJP, the largest single party in Maharashtra, to the Congress and the NCP. It was a new chapter in Indian political history. Since coming to power at the Center in 2014, the BJP has captured several states through resort politics. Maharashtra has become a dark chapter in the BJP’s resort political history. But as it cooled, the BJP waited for revenge.
National face at the helm of elections
Fadnavis was in charge of election coordination in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Goa. Goa, along with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, has implemented an extensive electoral strategy. Fadnavis took the lead in selecting candidates, appeasing dissidents and communicating with the Center to take necessary action.
It was Fdanavis’ maneuvers that brought the BJP back to power in Goa. Devendra Fadnavis will be in charge of Bihar elections in 2020 as well. The JDU won 75 seats while the BJP won 74 seats. Nitish Kumar was announced as the new Chief Minister.
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In Bihar, the situation was unfavorable for the BJP-JDU alliance. Bihar also had favorable conditions for the Congress-RJD alliance to seize power easily. But the BJP-JDU alliance came to power through the intervention of Devendra Fadnavis. With this, Fadnavis became an important face in national politics beyond Maharashtra.
Coup begins in Rajya Sabha elections
The Shiv Sena’s downfall began with the coup defeat of a Shiv Sena candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections. Elections to ten MLC seats followed. The BJP had enough votes to win four. But won five seats. The BJP got 26 votes from outside. It is estimated that not only independents but also those from the Shiv Sena received votes. Following this, Eknath Shinde, who was close to the BJP, and about a dozen MLAs went missing.
Shinde was under BJP surveillance even before the 2019 elections. Fadnavis and Shinde were reportedly in close contact. When the Shiv Sena reacted with restraint on Hindutva issues, Devendra Fadnavis came out with a clear stand. With this, Eknath Fadnavis, who clung to the Hindutva agenda, activated his inner circle.
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ബിജെപി BJP chess behind the scenes
Thirteen Shiv Sena MLAs, including Eknath Shinde, have been missing since the 20th of this month. Though the Uddhav government was in crisis, the leaders were hoping to bring them back. But with each passing day, the number of MLAs with Eknath Shinde increased. Uddhav also went to a hotel in Surat, Gujarat, to persuade the MLAs. But everything failed. The MLAs were then shifted to Guwahati.
Fadnavis and the BJP were adamant that they would not take part in the palace revolution within the Shiv Sena, despite the escalating problem. The Maharashtra BJP president said that what was happening was only an internal problem of the Shiv Sena and should not be dragged into it. Fadnavis did not rush to power, despite the assurance that the MLAs had been overthrown. Tried to create the impression of watching the game changed. Meanwhile, Fadnavis flew to Delhi and Mumbai several times. Fadnavis did not want to be sworn in as he was in 2019 and resign within hours, despite having the necessary backing to come to power. He went to see the governor after it was finally confirmed at all levels that there were a number of MLAs to take over the government. Meanwhile, leaders, including Uddhav, tried to influence the rebels in every possible way in the tone of threats and pleas. Fadnavis also waited more than ten days to confirm if anyone was going on that move. Fladnavis showed the political zeal to have the Deputy Chief Minister’s chair of sacrifice in the minds of the people by handing over the Chief Minister’s chair to Shinde, who could eventually win even a corner. The assessment is that this temporary sacrifice will energize Fadnavis in the years to come.
Politics that combines law and business
Devendra Fadnavis, son of Jana Sangh leader Gangadhar Fadnavis, entered politics with a law degree and a master’s degree in business management. Mayor of Nagpur at the age of 27. He has been a five-time legislator from Nagpur South West since 1999. Chief Minister of Maharashtra in 2014. In 2019, the Chief Minister again surprised everyone. Fadnavis applied applied law and business management to politics.
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Fadnavis had dragged the chair of Maharashtra BJP bigwigs like Pramod Mahajan, Gopinath Munde, Nitin Gadkari and Eknath Khadse. Fadnavis, who became the state president’s candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, led the BJP – Sena alliance to win 41 out of 48 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when tensions between the Gopinath Munde faction and the Gadkari faction tightened. In the ensuing assembly elections, he won the largest victory in history with 122 out of 288 seats.
When Eknath Khadse was expected to be the next Chief Minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah nominated Fadnavis. When Modi became the second youngest Chief Minister of Maharashtra at the age of 44 in 2014, Modi and Shah had strengthened their faith in Fadnavis. The BJP won most of the subsequent local body elections. The allied Shiv Sena was kept to a minimum. He handled the Maratha agitation and the peasant struggle against the government on his own. Fadnavis also sided with the NCP and the Congress, announcing reservation for the Marathas, the state’s largest vote bank, and bringing them to the BJP camp. Although the BJP aimed to rule alone in the 2019 elections, it failed.
New political dunghill
Fadnavis’ interventions to win elections in various states had a profound effect on him in national politics. However, the impetus for Maharashtra’s abandonment persisted. Political observers feared that the unnatural alliance in Maharashtra would soon break up, but it did not happen. The BJP was also hoping for this. The BJP could not accept that Mahavikas Aghadi was going to complete three years. With this the move was made dynamic.
Amit Shah has been described as the BJP’s scapegoat in national politics. The BJP overthrew the government in 2016 in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh, in 2017 in Goa, in 2019 in Karnataka and in 2020 in Madhya Pradesh. It is clear that the mastermind behind this was Amit Shah. Political observers consider Devendra Fadnavis to be Amit Shah’s successor. Fadnavis smashed Uddhav Thackeray and his allies to the point where they could not even stand up straight. One of the strongest moves by the BJP was to crush the Shiv Sena.
It was implemented by Fadnavis in Maharashtra with the blessings of Modi and Amit Shah. It is clear to those at the Center that governance will not be smooth without the financial capital of the country at hand. Therefore, the BJP was ready to see even Uddhav again. Once in Mumbai, a lengthy conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uddhav Thackeray in a closed room led to many rumors. But nothing significant happened.
Devendra Fadnavis’ resurgence in Maharashtra has split the Shiv Sena’s organizational body with the BJP, which is sowing Hindutva politics in the state. For being sweeter and more vengeful than coming to power after winning an election. Fifty-one-year-old Devendra Fadnavis, who comes to power with a new strategy of self-sacrifice, also sees the rise of a new dunghill.
English Summary: Revenge served cold: Devendra Fadnavis strikes back after 30 month wait
