Amid suspense, RSS backs Devendra Fadnavis as new Maharashtra CM

Devendra Fadnavis

As the suspense over Maharashtra’s next chief minister continues, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is backing Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the post, according to a report by News18.

The RSS, which is BJP’s ideological fountainhead, is not known to have any formal participation in political matters. However, ahead of the elections in Maharashtra, the RSS had launched an extensive outreach programme to shape public opinion in favour of the BJP-led alliance in the state. According to reports, the RSS formed small teams of “swayamsevaks” who reached out to people in every nook and corner of the state.

Fadnavis recently said that he had sought the Sangh's help to fight "anarchists and vote jihadists" in the assembly polls following the BJP's setback in the state in the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP was reduced to nine seats from 23 that it won in 2019 Lok Sabha in Maharashtra. In the recently held assembly elections, the BJP won 132 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, while its Mahayuti alliance won 233 seats. The MVA was reduced to 49 seats.

However, the RSS denies being involved in the decision of naming the Maharashtra CM. According to the RSS, the final call on the choice for Maharashtra CM will be taken by the BJP brass.

“Fadnavis has been the leader of all the MLAs. It was his face that got the BJP people’s support. This will also consolidate the BJP-RSS synergy in Maharashtra," an RSS insider told CNN-News18.

A senior RSS functionary told Indian Express that the Sangh’s concern is that Maharashtra should have an “able administrator and visionary who can lead the state with a firm hand”.

Fadnavis began his political journey with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which is the student wing of the RSS, in 1989. By the age of 27, he had taken over as Nagpur’s youngest mayor, and in 1999 he made his entry into the state assembly.

After the polling for the 288 constituencies in the state assembly elections closed, Fadnavis also met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur. According to reports, the meeting could have been to offer his gratitude for helping the BJP with its door-to-door campaigns.