The 2024 Assembly election is going to be all about Devendra Fadnavis. He is the most popular target and everybody in the opposition seems to love to be gunning for him. Just as the election schedule was announced by the election commission, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil roared that the Maratha community should not stay clam without decimating Fadnavis.
After the murder of NCP MLA Baba Siddique, the Opposition has accused Fadnavis of failing as home minister and not being able to handle law and order situation. They also demanded his resignation. He was also attacked for delays in investigation of the Badlapur sexual assault case, the killing of the Badlapur accused in an alleged police encounter, the firing in an Ulhasnagar police station, the cases of sexual assaults in Pune and other places, among others.
However, none of these attacks seem to have deterred Fadnavis. In fact, as a gesture to have accepted the challenge, the state BJP has started with publicity campaign giving credit of development work in the state to Fadnavis and build his image as a mass-leader who is loved because he toiled for the masses.
Fadnavis became the 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra in October 2014. Born in 1970, he was not new to the field of politics. He started his political career at a young age and quickly worked his way up through the ranks of the BJP, serving in various roles within the party, including the president of the Maharashtra BJP from 2013 to 2014. Under Fadnavis’ leadership, the BJP won 123 of the State Assembly’s total 288 seats even though it had then fought the polls alone since its alliance with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had broken following their differences on the seat-sharing formula. This was the BJP’s highest tally in the Assembly.
However, as Chief Minister, he faced numerous challenges, from within the part as well as from outside. However, he focused on addressing key issues such as agriculture, infrastructure, urban development, and social welfare.
After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Fadnavis served as the Leader of the Opposition in the state legislature, continuing to play a vital role in Maharashtra’s politics. His astute political strategies and effective articulation of the party’s positions earned him respect within the BJP.
A senior journalist associated with the RSS had told me after Fadnavis became the CM, that if he could complete three years as CM, he will emerge as an unstoppable force. The words seem to be coming true now.
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