Devendra Fadnavis: Architect of BJP’s Maharashtra triumph, yet awaiting crown

The Bharatiya Janata Partyrsquos finest moment in Maharashtrarsquos electoral politics is also an individual triumph for former chief minister and current deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis who has led his party to a 100 tally for a third successive election However the twotime CM has to wait to see if the top job that eluded him in June 2022 when he was asked to be deputy to Eknath Shinde will be his despite the dream win that has strengthened his positionThe Mahayuti recorded a landslide victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections with the BJP bettering its own record of the 2014 contest when the nation was swept up by the Narendra Modi wave The BJP won 132 seats Its allies Shiv Sena Shindemdashwhich won 57 seatsmdashand Nationalist Congress Party Ajit Pawarmdashwhich won 41 seatsmdashalso outdid their own expectationsAlong with smaller allies the combine had won or was leading in 233 out of 288 seats The MVA was demolished with the Shiv SenaUddhav Balasaheb Thackeray winning 20 Congress 16 and NCPSharad Pawar 10 Others and independents mopped up the remaining nine seatsFadnavis on topThere was hardly any disagreement in political circles that all credit to the BJPrsquos achievement goes to Fadnavis who has now led his party to more than 100 seats for the third consecutive time BJPrsquos 132 seats out of 149 it contested shades the 105 it won in 2019 and even the 122 it had won in 2014With Fadnavis leading BJP to a 100plus tally for a 3rd election it is likely he will get the top job again It remains to be seen how power will be shared with Eknath Shindeled Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawarrsquos NCP PicShadab KhanHowever the twotime CM remains modest Fadnavis who was the main target of the oppositionrsquos campaign said on Sunday ldquoWhen a single person is targeted people understand why it is being done Our track record is good and people prefer such leaders We are a modernday Abhimanyu We have broken the oppositionrsquos chakravyuhrdquoAsked who the Mahayutirsquos CM will be he said ldquoOur partyrsquos Parliamentary board and the chiefs of the Sena Shinde and NCP Ajit Pawar will decide that The decision will be accepted by all of usrdquo His statement came even as the partyrsquos cadre and newly elected legislators rooted for lsquoDeva Bhaursquo as the CMldquoIrsquom just a small party worker who is backed by the top leadership and workers Credit should go to them My share is very littlerdquo he said Sources told midday that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh RSS which worked hard for five months to reverse the Lok Sabha trend in Maharashtra prefers Fadnavis as the next CMWhat clickedWhile the Mahayuti attributed the victory to its development work welfare schemes and PM Modirsquos lsquoEk hain toh safe hainrsquo appeal the MVA said the verdict was unexpected The oppositionrsquos showing was so poor that the state assembly will not have a Leader of the Opposition LoP as no party outside the ruling combine was able to get the mandatory minimum of 29 seats Rebelsrsquo impact minimalContrary to expectations the election did not throw up many rebel winners Even smaller parties like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and the Parivartan Mahashakti front were unable to make any inroads In fact Mahashaktirsquos leader Bacchu Kadu who expressed hopes of joining the government on Friday lost from Achalpur A thorough analysis will be required to establish their roles as vote cutters if anyIntrospection and course correctionLearning a lesson from the Lok Sabha debacle the Mahayuti got to work soon after It introspected and identified grey areas in the oppositionrsquos campaign including the lsquoSave Constitutionrsquo narrative that propelled the MVA to a new high in the Parliamentary electionsThe BJP took the lead to propagate a counternarrative thanks to the RSSrsquo groundwork and active participation in executing the poll management plan The ruling combine also borrowed Madhya Pradeshrsquos successful direct cash benefit programme for women ldquoLadki Bahinrdquo It was announced in the budget and implemented efficiently to transfer money to bank accounts of eligible women votersShinde Fadnavis and Pawar worked in tandem to expand the outreach by launching Ladki Bahin in many district headquarters Resourceful Shinde and Pawar who reworked his image with the help of a professional agency pulled all stops to woo voters In addition the BJP held over 1700 meetings with women beneficiaries The government also utilised a onemonth delay in the announcement of elections to reach voters with welfare programmesThe Maratha quota protest which had threatened to hurt BJPrsquos prospects in Marathwada fizzled out just ahead of the elections but not before creating unrest among the Other Backward Castes OBC The BJP wooed them with economic development corporationsAll gone for MVAFor the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA everything seemed to have gone wrong once the results started coming in Following the alliancersquos Lok Sabha success their egos clashed cohesion was missing and their campaign line did not click a second timeState Congress President Nana Patole and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray could not agree on seatsharing delaying the alliancersquos preparations They criticised the Mahayutirsquos Ladki Bahin Yojna but soon announced a clone with a promise of doubling the entitlement amount for womenReal Sena NCPThe votersrsquo overwhelming verdict also put to an end for now the argument over who the real Shiv Sena and NCP are Shinde and Ajit Pawar who have already won the cases in the Election Commission and are awaiting the Supreme Courtrsquos ruling can be elated that they have proven their lsquogenuinenessrsquo in the peoplersquos courtBJP strengthens grip over MumbaiBorivliSanjay Upadhyay BJPWon by 100257DahisarMANISHA CHAUDHARY BJPWon by 44329MagathanePrakash Surve SS ShindeWon by 58164MulundMihir Kotecha BJPWon by 90032VikhroliSunil Raut SS UBTWon by 15526Bhandup WestASHOK PATIL SS ShindeWon by 6764Jogeshwari EastAnant Nar SS UBTWon by 1541DindoshiSunil Waman Prabhu SS UBTWon by 6182Kandivli EastAtul Bhatkhalkar BJPWon by 83593CharkopYogesh Sagar BJPWon by 91154Malad WestAslam Shaikh CongWon by 6227GoregaonVIDYA THAKUR BJPWon by 23600VersovaHaroon Khan SS UBTWon by 1600Andheri WestAmeet Satam BJPWon by 19599Andheri EastMURJI PATEL SS ShindeWon by 25486Vile ParleParag Alavani BJPWon by 54935ChandivaliDilip Lande SS ShindeWon by 20625Ghatkopar WestRAM KADAM BJPWon by 12971Ghatkopar EastParag Shah BJPWon by 34999Mankhurd Shivaji NagarAbu Asim Azmi SPWon by 12753Anushakti NagarSana Malik NCP Ajit PawarWon by 3378ChemburTUKARAM KATE SS ShindeWon by 10711KurlaMangesh Kudalkar SS ShindeWon by 4187KalinaSanjay Potnis SS UBTWon by 5008Bandra EastVARUN SARDESAI SS UBTWon by 11365Bandra WestAshish Shelar BJPWon by 19131DharaviJyoti Gaikwad CongWon by 23459Sion KoliwadaR Tamil Selvan BJPWon by 7895WadalaKalidas Kolambkar BJPWon by 24973MahimMAHESH SAWANT SS UBTWon by 1316WorliAAditya Thackeray SS UBTWon by 8801SewriAjay Choudhari SS UBTWon by 7140BycullaManoj Jamsutkar SS UBTWon by 31361Malabar HillMangal Prabhat Lodha BJPWon by 68019MumbadeviAMIN PATEL CongWon by 34844ColabaRahul Narvekar BJPWon by 48581