Demystifying Devendra FADNAVIS

19 July 2022, Mumbai

Demystifying Devendra FADNAVIS

The night of 20^th June 2022 was no special other than it was the eve of the longest day of the year. It was quite routine for ordinary Indians, but for a majority in Maharashtra, it was a night to be spent curiously and remembered – as the counting of votes of 10 MLC seats was being conducted. Eight out of ten results were in-line of expectation, the last two were politicians and political experts were looking closely. And then, BJP’s Sh. Prasad Lad got declared as winner along with Sh Bhai Jagtap of INC. It was a big jolt to the MahaVikasAgahdi (MVA) bosses – since it blatantly proved that the rift is wide. All in the BJP camp were celebrating in high Josh, however one person who appeared busy texting something to somebody, he was ex-chief minister and Leader of Opposition and ex-chief minister of Maharashtra - Sh Devendra G. Fadnavis.

Unlike the celebrations barely ten days ago, i.e., on the 11th June when BJP’s third candidate Sh Dhananjay Mahadik was declared as the winner for 6^th seat in Rajysabha Polls, Celebrations of this win in MLC elections; despite being a significant, was a muted one and short affair. BJP Leaders dispersed quickly and, it now became evident why would they have done it. For the fact, the morning of 21^st June brought news of some 10-12 MLAs of Shivsena, including senior leader Sh Eknath Shinde were not reachable, and eventually located in a luxury hotel in Gujarat.

What followed after that is history in a sense– that eventually led to resignation of Sh Uddhav Thackrey as chief minister. Subsequently, on 30^th June, Sh Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis sworn in Chief Minister and Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra respectively. Actually, it had started from the RS elections when a few votes were referred for validity, out of which one went on the be declared as invalid. Incidentally, those 3 votes in question were from three parties of the ruling MVA!

So, in a matter of 20 days, the political canvas of Maharashtra had changed 180 degrees. Although, 40 MLAs of one party alone crossing over still leaves many a mind in doubt! Events of 30th June (when Sh Eknath Shinde was announced a chief minister) had left experts working out several theories and supporting's - but one person who appeared calm and dutybound was Devendra Fadnavis.

But when did it start, and Who played the major role?

This wasn’t a fluke, nor was it spontaneous. It had a signature of wisdom of few politicians of Maharashtra and New Delhi! The timing was such that, Shivsena wouldn’t cry foul as one part of their term was over – because It was rumored that the MVA government had 50-50% tenure sharing.

Moreover, the flow of events came across so smoothly that it makes the whole episode to appear as culmination of one act into another, while the first trigger still remained the relevant – on 24^th October 2019, when the Shivsena leadership pronounced that they were looking at other options, this despite of fighting the state elections in Pre-Poll alliance that had got a whopping 161 seats! One man who would have been most upset on that day was probably Devendra Fadnavis, however he never displayed his anger.

After the MVA government was formed, Devendra Fadnavis never displayed any urgency to stake claim to his office. Instead, he always maintained a clear stand – that the MVA alliance was unnatural, and it will fall on its own due to very same reason. And, he slipped into new shoes of LoP quickly. While giving leeway to the chief minister in his first assembly session, Devendra Fadnavis made his intentions loud and clear- that he will be a “difficult” play. His speeches and expose’ during assembly sessions became too difficult for the ruling dispensation to handle.

 

Despite a massive political setback (of pre-poll partner deserting), he regained his political composure very very quickly. Come March 2020, whole world was encompassed with Covid-19 Pandemic due to which businesses, humans all were forced to go into a shell. Relentless as he would always be, Devendra Fadnavis didn’t confine himself to the comfort of his chosen closed world, instead he chose to reach out to the poor and distraught population across the length and breadth of 36 districts of Maharashtra. He supervised medical setups, aligned medicines, equipment’s in remotest possible places. Not only he instilled sense of much desired confidence in the state medical apparatus, he also swung in central machinery for local representatives across all parties. His whirlwind outreach in the state during the Pandemic, floods and cyclones must have left a positive impression even among his detractors in other parties.

 

On the other hand, his well mounted attacks had left the MVA government poorer by three ministers. Two minsters had to resign, while the other one is jail. So much so that, he hunted down the powerful home minister through his typical investigative brain games.

 

So, what is his success recipe?

Devendra Fadnavis is not that typical "confrontationalist" or fame seeking politician. He is rather conversationalist. He sets conversation through his performance, works and strategies. He seems to work on mission mode – multiple at a time, minutely detailed, and planned well in advance. No wonder if he has special liking for spy movies like Munich! He appears to have penchant for electoral politics. Since his outgoing as a chief minister, he was involved in retaining BJP governments in Bihar and Goa – despite of huge anti-incumbency against them. Win in Goa must have been satisfying for him, as he delegated roles to many young colleagues of his from Maharashtra.

 

Back home, in the three assembly bypolls that were held in Maharashtra after the formation of MVA in November 2019, BJP wrested Pandharpur Assembly seat, while giving tough competition in the other two. Notably all these three seats belonged to MVA. A thumping win in Pandharpur in May 2021 plentily showcased cracks in the MVA, and that may have been quietly noted by Devendra Fadnavis. Despite having brutal majority (170), MVA leaders met him on more than two occasions to make way clear for their candidates in MLC and RS elections.

 

But, come 2022, he appeared to have changed the gears to much higher pace and wit. His incisive onslaught on Nawab Malik was akin of getting an inform batter stumped out on a wide ball!

 

Decoding Devendra Fadnavis is not easy as he is not the one who would let even his closed ones know the moves that he is planning. He is an enigmatic planner yet likes to play in a gentleman’s spirit. The Same gentleman’s spirit which little maestro Sunil Manohar Gavaskar was known for – as he would “walk” on caught behind appeals even before the umpire raising his finger. That’s the level of principals he follows.

 

Devendra Fadnavis will soon enter into 53^rd year of his life – of which some 30 years would have been spent as a politician. From a councilor (at 22) to mayor to MLA to leader of opposition to chief minister, he has successfully donned many hats. He is now playing a crucial role as the deputy chief minister of the state. He also has proved his organisational capability by heading the state unit once. His capability, political understanding and wisdom would certainly take him to much bigger roles in the national political arena – in BJP and also at central government. While he is a special invitee to the national executive council – his services to the party may have been kept “on-demand”.

 

Maharashtra, as a state has much lesser entry barriers (for example language and culture) as compared to southern states, thus making it a favourite destination for business owners and politicians across the country. Therefore, the dynamics of politics is Maharashtra is different altogether, multi-threaded (undercurrent, faultlines) – it has local flavour, yet has strings going outside the states too. This makes a difficult path for someone who would have national ambitions or would like to emerge a bigger leader.

 

Along with Sh Amit Shah, Sh Yogi Adityanath and a few others, Devendra Fadnavis comes as a strong potential candidate for the coveted role of prime minister of India in the next decade. He is different from these two in terms of his persona, positioning and working style. Amit Shah had played key roles in Gujarat since 2000-1, and has a reputation of a hard task master who was nurtured by none other than three-time chief minister and two-time prime minister Sh Narendra Modi. His ability and reputation bring him the much-desired power and separates him from others. Yogi Adityanath was first elected as MP from Gorakhpur in 1998 after his guru Mahant Sh Avaidyanath had retired from active politics. So, Yogi Adityanath is more of a Hindu monk who turned into a politician. While his working style (especially, no appeasement policy) has scored good for him, and that separates him from other BJP leaders, his developmental agenda is now catching good pace turning UP into an industrialised state. There are other leaders in the BJP like Sh Himanta Biswa Sarma who is also rising the plank fast, however he would have to demonstrate it higher level. Of course, there could be a few surprises waiting in the wings too!

 

Had he become the chief minister of Maharashtra in November 2019, Devendra Fadnavis's stature as a leader in western India would have grown many folds!

 

In short Devendra Fadnavis will have to play his moves carefully. He is seen as a performance and development-oriented leader, which is a good to have capability. However, in today’s polarised India, a national leader is expected to have a clear and unabashed unapologetic stand on Hindutva. Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath are well known for their clear stand on Hindutva (which underlines, no appeasement). Since his younger days, Devendra Fadnavis had been staunch a Ram Mandir supporter (having spent days in jails of Uttar Pradesh during first karsewa, and also then demolition days). While in his first term as chief minister of Maharashtra, he didn’t get much opportunity to showcase that intent. However, in the last couple of years, he has unapologetically batted for Hindutva, and against appeasement on the line of religion. During one of his last public rallies in Mumbai -his demeanours must have left many a lot startled when he roared against glorification of the Mughal king Aurangzeb.

 

Devendra Fadnavis is a master cultivator – own habits, strategies as well as people who eventually become a strong system/team. His liking for young, and “hungry for success” politicians is well known. He brought in young Gopichand Padalkar to the mainstream politics and, rest is history – as Padalkar has been mounting relentless attacks on the hegemony of a political family of western Maharashtra.

 

During the last two years Fadnavis seemed to have made optimum use of his travels throughout the state – he was seen meeting all elements of a successful ecosystem – right from sant (siers) to heads of various organisations, young students to experienced professionals, cooperative champions to seasoned politicians alike. That would give him plenty of soundboards.

 

He is imaginative and creative in a sense of visualising aspirations and changed lifestyle through development – for example Samruddhi Mahamarg and network of metro rails.

 

While he himself has said on some occasions that he lacks “killer” instinct, but his political moves have left many gasped for their political survival. Hegemony of many dynasts is under threat. During his first term he successfully tackled Naxalite issue, urban naxals and various mafias (sand, water tanker). His grasping power assisted him to develop firm grip on police force, administration, which is a feat in itself - given the size and caste dynamics of the state. He had managed to resolve the age old maratha reservation issue. While there were some stray days, especially in mid 2016 when he appeared to be in self-doubt. But regained his feet quickly around the year-end, which followed by massive victories for BJP in various local bodies elections.

 

Clarity of thought and vision appear one of his key fortes. That also applies to his own political future when he candidly mentioned that he was the last one from his family in electoral politics. That sets him different from his contemporaries (even within the BJP), albeit many are harping on their forefathers while others already planning for debut of their next generations.

 

Like Sh Narendra Modi, Devendra Fadnavis too is quite active on social media. He manages good connect with all segments of electoral politics, especially among millennials and generation Z.

 

In the hindsight, his initial brief in 2014 might have been to resurrect the state in terms of economy and law & order and make it stable. It wasn’t an easy brief to work around, especially in a caste oriented political setup that had 6 ex-chief ministers still in the reckoning! But he successfully managed to complete a full-term (only second one after Sh Vasantrao Naik) being a master performer who graduated to become a deadly politician!

 

Indian politics is full of many performance-oriented personalities, some of them have their own aura and charisma. Some have raw image of hard-line Hindutva. They all have managed to create an equity for themselves among across castes, age and genders.

 

Devendra Fadnavis captured the imagination of voters of Maharashtra a long time ago. He had successfully delivered clean governance and development once during 2014-19, and now on the way to ensure more in the coming months. One hopes that any gaps or lacunas of his first term would get plugged in the ongoing term. He is decisive, futuristic, tech savvy. His clean and curated image is a good sign for Indian politics. Time will only tell when he gets to play leading roles at national level. For sure, he seems to be well on course, and he will play that role someday, albeit that road would certainly not be so easy. Being a hard-core cricket fan, he surely knows how to pace and elongate his innings, and maintain the peak for a longer time!

 

One can’t resist to say a few lines for him –

 

“जिस दिन तेरी फतेह का परचम इस धरती पर लहराएगा,

क्या जमीं क्या आस्मां, यह हिंदुस्तान मिल जाएगा”

(demystify - /diːˈmɪstɪfʌɪ/

Learn to pronounce

   verb

1. make (a difficult subject) clearer and easier to understand.)

- Dhananjay M. Deshmukh, Mumbai

(Author is an independent market research and business consulting professional. Views are personal. Data presented is collected via online secondary research).