Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP's crisis man and a proven backroom strategist, is back after the party declared him the leader of the Maharashtra legislature party on Wednesday, which effectively makes him the new chief minister.
The decision comes 11 days after the party and its allies retained India’s richest state, with a record-breaking victory in the assembly elections.
Fadnavis, 54, was widely expected to return as the chief minister after the BJP-led Mahayuti stormed to power in Maharashtra following a stunning performance in the assembly elections.
The return of Fadnavis also cements BJP's pole position in Maharashtra politics, especially after the party lost out on forming the government in 2019 over a tussle with Uddhav Thackerary and had to later cede the position to Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde when it finally returned to power in 2022.
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Who is Devendra Fadnavis?
Fadnavis, who entered politics over three decades ago, has risen from modest roots to become an influential leader in Maharashtra.
From serving as an obscure corporator before becoming Nagpur's youngest mayor, Fadnavis has steadily built his reputation as an influential party leader.
He holds the distinction of being Maharashtra's second Brahmin chief minister, after Shiv Sena's Manohar Joshi.
Fadnavis hails from a middle-class progressive family in Nagpur. His diverse educational background includes a Graduate Degree in Law, a Post Graduate Degree in Business Management and a Diploma in Project Management from DSE Berlin.
Son of late BJP leader Gangadhar Fadnavis, Devendra cut his teeth in politics at a young age when he joined Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the students wing of RSS, in 1989/
His political career began at a very young age, in 1992. He was elected as the Councilor at Nagpur Municipal Corporation and served two consecutive terms.
He has the distinction of being the second youngest Mayor in India. He has been the youngest Mayor of Nagpur and has been the only person to be re-elected on the position of ‘Mayor in Council’.
Fadnavis contested his first assembly election in 1999 and won. Thereafter, there was no looking back for him. Fadnavis stands out among Maharashtra's political figures for maintaining a reputation free from corruption allegations.
His rise gained momentum ahead of the 2014 assembly elections, bolstered by strong backing from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leader Amit Shah. Modi famously referred to him as "Nagpur's gift to the country" during a campaign rally, underscoring the confidence placed in Fadnavis.
Though Modi had launched a campaign blitzkrieg in the 2014 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly polls, a portion of the credit also went to Fadnavis, then state BJP president, for the party's unprecedented victories in the elections.
Fadnavis, presently the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, served as the 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2014 to 2019. In the midst of Maharashtra's 2019 political upheaval, Fadnavis served as chief minister for the second time which lasted less than a week.
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