Devendra Fadnavis Is Once More The Maharashtra Chief Minister

By Sushil Kutty

The turnstiles opened for Devendra Fadnavis this time and Eknath Shinde couldn’t get through to the top post. The BJP’s central observers placed their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “param mitra Devendra”, who will be a third-time Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, one of the two central observers, expressed relief that the logjam had finally ended. The second observer, former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, let the “secret” out from the podium.

Sitharaman spoke of Maharashtra’s prime position and the Modi government’s plans for Maharashtra, ending with the mandatory attribution of “Ek hai toh Safe hai” to Prime Minister Modi. Assuming everything else remains the same, it is now the duty of all BJP leaders to ensure that Modi’s name precedes “Ek hai toh Safe hai”.

As for Fadnavis, he won’t be able to look Shinde in the eye for keeping quiet when he was introduced as the man who led the Mahayuti election campaign. Everybody knows Eknath Shinde had led from the front, but ask Fadnavis and he will say it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who led the Mahayuti to victory. Nirmala Sitharaman will second it.

Fadnavis’ name for Chief Minister is a reminder that the BJP doesn’t keep its promises. It happened with Uddhav Thackeray who cut cord and jumped ship. And it has now happened with Eknath Shinde who stopped short of cutting cord and jumping ship. Today, there is only a fading shadow of the Shiv Sena left.

In fact, Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned “Double-engine ki Sarkar” when delivering her piece on government formation after 11 days of suspense! Sitharaman sounded as if it wasn’t the BJP’s fault when even a little-known fool would swear that Prime Minister Modi wanted “param mitr Devendra Fadnavis” at any cost. Prime Minister Modi has a tight grip on both party and central government, which is another version of “double-engine.”

Importantly, Fadnavis will sleep better from hereon. And Shinde will “reluctantly” take on the Deputy Chief Minister’s role, begging the question, why the funny feeling that Ajit Pawar, the other deputy chief minister-designate, must be grinning like a Cheshire cat? Could it be that Ajit Pawar didn’t like Shinde for upsetting the calculations of the Pawar family?

It is a thought. What matters though is that Eknath Shinde isn’t happy and this unhappiness will travel farther than expected by Modi &Co. Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale spoke of “Shinde is upset at being denied the top post” and that he (Athawale) had told Shinde to “take a chance” and become Fadnavis’ Deputy Chief Minister.

The question is, how was Fadnavis’ name finalized, the nitty-gritty of it all? Eknath Shinde had hung on as if for dear life. Shinde sulked. Shinde went to his “village home”; Shine fell ill. Shinde even hinted his son’s name for DCM. Shinde did everything except going on all fours. At the end of the day though it was demotion in public.

Fadnavis and his two deputies will be sworn at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on December 5. The “BJP leadership” couldn’t have another name for CM given that Modi is in the habit of picking chief ministers. The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister. The Rajasthan Chief Minister. The Odisha Chief Minister. The Tripura Chief Minister. Will there be a Modi-picked BJP Chief Minister of Bihar, which will be going to polls in the next one year?

Nothing moves in the BJP without Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nod. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman conveys this little fact most beautifully. In fact, there are BJP leaders who can’t stop mentioning “Modi” in every second sentence. If Gautam Adani makes another substantial investment in Maharashtra it will be because of the “Double- engine Sarkar” and because Modi’s at the top of his game.

The newly elected BJP legislators gave their approval to Devendra Fadnavis for Chief Minister watched by Vijay Rupani and Nirmala Sitharaman. Talk that the BJP follows democratic norms when selecting chief ministers is bull. More than likely, Vijay Rupani and Nirmala Sitharaman dealt the cards shuffled and handed to them by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

Fadnavis thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi “for his support” and added that the BJP’s “Double-engine government” will ensure Maharashtra’s development. He did not forget to add that the “Mahayuti victory is due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘ek hai toh Safe hai’ slogan”, overlooking the fact that but for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s “Batenge toh katenge” slogan, he (Devendra Fadnavis) wouldn’t be a third-time Chief Minister! Fadnavis also forgot to give credit to Eknath Shinde for the Mahayuti triumph. (IPA Service)