Fadnavis

Fadnavis was with BJP MLAs and legislators of BJP's allies at Hotel Taj President when chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation on Tuesday evening. MLA Manisha Chaudhari from Dahisar got out a box of sweets (laddoos) and offered the first one to Fadnavis. Thereafter, BJP state president Chandrakant Patil too offered him a sweet. "If they (Shiv Sena) had respected the people's mandate, the government would have been formed in 2019. He (Uddhav Thackeray) has lost the majority and so had to resign. Our love for him will remain as before. There is no question of fight with the Shiv Sena. The fight is with the NCP," said senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar. BJP sources said the core committee will meet on Thursday to decide the future course of action. "Today's day was stressful and what has happened has come as a surprise, so we are just relaxing," said BJP state president Chandrakant Patil. Fadnavis joined MLAs in singing at the hotel where MLAs were gathered. Sources said since there will be no floor test on Thursday, the Shinde block is unlikely to come to Mumbai immediately on Thursday morning. MLA Nitesh Rane from Kankavli assembly constituency said there were personal attacks by the MVA government. "They came right up to our home, lodged false cases. They gave no development funds for my constituency. All this will now change," he said. Eknath Shinde is likely to be rewarded with the post of deputy CM, and at least a dozen of his supporters are likely t...

All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday took a swipe at Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis over his ‘sons of Aurangzeb’ remark in the Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi. Fadnavis had earlier slammed the “supporters” of Aurangzeb after violence in Kolhapur during a protest by Hindutva outfits against some social media posts allegedly glorifying the erstwhile Mughal ruler. While the state home minister appealed for peace, he defended the aggression of the right-wing outfits. “There is bound to be a reaction if Aurangzeb is glorified,” he said. “We will not tolerate it. This is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Maharashtra.” "Suddenly, in some districts of Maharashtra, sons of Aurangzeb took birth. They keep the status of Aurangzeb and show their posters. Because of this, there are tensions. Questions arise, where do these sons of Aurangzeb come from? Who are behind this? We will find this out," Fadnavis later told ANI in Nagpur. Reacting to his remarks, Owaisi said, “Maharashtra's home minister Devendra Fadnavis said “Aurangzeb ke aulaad”. Do you know everything? I didn't know you were such an expert. Then tell me who are the offsprings of (Nathuram) Godse and (Babasaheb) Apte.” The Lok Sabha member was referring to Godse's links with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological fountainhead of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. A separate row erupted after Bharatiya Janata ...

At 7.40 pm, however, Fadnavis took oath as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, a clear demotion for a man who until 2019 was the chief minister of the state, that too a first from the BJP. What exactly happened in these two hours and 40 minutes is something that only the top BJP leadership at the Centre or Devendra Fadnavis himself can tell us. But in the meantime... Three men from the BJP – Maharashtra LoP Devendra Fadnavis, Gujarat party President CR Paatil, and Assam Chief Minister While the saffron party itself did not say much regarding the crisis within the Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde hinted at the role of BJP in the revolt. While addressing the rebel MLAs in Guwahati on 24 June, Shinde claimed that he has been promised all support by the mahashakti that has taken on Pakistan. "Let’s be together in happiness and in trouble. The victory is ours. A national party, a mahashakti that has taken on Pakistan has told me that the decision I have taken is historic for the country," he said, clearly hinting towards the BJP. Late at night on Tuesday, 28 June, he met Governor Soon, the internet was flooded with 'swearing-in' jokes as everybody expected Fadnavis to take over as the chief minister. For context, in 2019, the BJP and the Shiv Sena contested the state Assembly elections together. As per the mandate the alliance partners won 161 seats – a comfortable majority in the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly. The Sena however, walked out of the alliance stating that the BJP bac...

As they got a stamp of approval from the Supreme Court, the duo of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis - who toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi government 11 months ago - said on Thursday that their government is legal and the top court verdict was a further proof of that. “Some people described our government as illegal and unconstitutional…and, today they have the answer,” said Shinde, who took over as Chief Minister on 30 June, 2022, after toppling the Thackeray-led MVA dispensation, of which he was a senior minister. Fadnavis, a former Chief Minister and ex-Leader of Opposition, who chose to become Deputy Chief Minister in the current dispensation. said: “In fact, in true sense, people’s verdict won today." This is a victory for democracy and the democratic process. We are satisfied with the verdict given by the Supreme Court," the senior BJP leader said at a press conference held shortly after the verdict. Speaking further on the verdict, Fadnavis, a lawyer by training and legislator by choice, said: “Today, MVA’s conspiracy stands defeated. Now, no one should doubt that the Maharashtra government (Shiv Sena-BJP) is completely legal….in fact it was legal from day one…those who were speculating that this government will collapse today have been silenced”. Defending Bhagat Singh Koshyari, the then Maharashtra Governor, Shinde said, “I won't talk about what the Supreme Court said about the then Maharashtra Governor, but I would say that he acted as per the situation at the ti...

AT 51, Devendra Fadnavis is younger than the number of years Sharad Pawar has spent in electoral politics. Last week, the BJP leader achieved the near impossible in Maharashtra by outsmarting the grand old man of state politics and stealing power from right under his nose. Pawar, as reported by this paper, didn’t mince his words asking how both his NCP’s Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil and Shiv Sena Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had no whiff of the brewing rebellion. However, if Uddhav clearly lost the plot when it comes to the Sena, the script couldn’t have gone better for one man, Devendra Fadnavis. Fadnavis would also justifiably see the developments as sweet revenge after the power play following the 2019 hung results that had spectacularly boomeranged on him — in a night of skullduggery executed to perfection by Pawar. After the BJP, with 105 MLAs, lost ally Sena and power to its alliance with the Congress and NCP, neither of whom got more than half its seats, the knives had been out for Fadnavis. Few expected him to bounce back. Certainly given detractors, who saw Fadnavis as the usurper placed from above. Insiders talk of Fadnavis’s bitterness at the Sena’s move. After the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, he reportedly said at a party function in private: “Chot dil mein lagi hai (It is my heart that has been struck). It is not so much about losing the CM post, but the manner in which the Sena betrayed us that has left us wounded. I am not sure if it ...

The people of Maharashtra, on June 13, woke up to front-page advertisements in vernacular newspapers claiming that chief minister Eknath Shinde had public approval ratings of 26.1 per cent while his deputy Devendra Fadnavis had of 23.2 per cent, thus alluding to the former being more popular. What raised eyebrows further was that the full-page advertisement claimed that the ratings were based on a survey but did not mention any details of this purported exercise. It also did not carry a photograph of Fadnavis. It only featured Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shinde with the tagline: ‘Rashtramadhye Modi, Maharashtramadhye Shinde’ (Modi at the national level, Shinde in Maharashtra). It thus implied that Shinde was in contention for another shot at chief ministership after the assembly election next year. The same afternoon, Fadnavis cancelled his plans to attend a government event in Kolhapur with Shinde. While he was speculated to be upset about the advertisement, education minister Deepak Kesarkar, who belongs to the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, said Fadnavis had suffered an ear problem and was advised by doctors against air travel as this could aggravate it. After an uproar, a fresh advertisement was issued the next day in an apparent attempt at damage control. This time, it carried photographs of Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, Shinde’s mentor Anand Dighe and the Shinde-Fadnavis duo with the tagline, ‘Janatechya Charani Matha, Garja M...

KOLHAPUR: Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday evening downplayed the row over an advertisement claiming a survey had shown him to be the more preferred choice for the CM's post than his deputy, Devendra Fadnavis, who skipped a government function here citing health reasons. Speaking to the media in Kolhapur, Shinde said the advertisement had not been given by the government and the tag of the popular CM was "not his own credit but also of deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and other cabinet ministers". He said, "The survey has shown that both Devendraji and I enjoy people's backing." Shinde Sena leader and Kolhapur guardian minister Deepak Kesarkar said Fadnavis had some "ear-related problem and doctors have advised him not to travel by flight." Kesarkar added the two parties - BJP and the Shiv Sena led by Shinde - did not have any differences. "There is no competition to take credit. It is very evident who is trying to create a split. Both the CM and the deputy CM are working like brothers," he said. Shinde said the popularity was because of PM Modi and the Union government's "full financial backing to the state". He said, "The projects that have been given a push stretch from Mumbai to across the state and have benefited lakhs of citizens. The government of the real Shiv Sena and BJP has people's backing." When asked about the absence of late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's photograph in the advertisement, Shinde did not directly respond. He said people should l...