Fadnavis to focus on governance challenges once local body polls end in Maharashtra

The three tier local bodies elections for 288 municipal council and nagar panchayat saw BJP winning 188 seats. Again in 29 municipal corporation polls BJP emerged single largest in 20 civic bodies. The zilla parishads poll next month will be the third in a series of local body polls. However, once that is over there are no major elections in Maharashtra for the next 3.5 years.

In the last 48 hours after poll results Fadnavis has given broad indications about how the situation may unfold in Maharashtra. While addressing party workers at Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur the message he boldly pushed was about responsibilities and transparency.

“The massive public mandate means greater responsibility. We have to resume greater transparency and accountability in the system. There will be no scope for complacency and corruption,” he warned.

Those who have closely watched Fadnavis in CM office admit, “The coalition conflict that marred the one year rule of Mahayuti was not to his liking, specially the misconduct of some of the ministers representing alliance partners, as it badly dented the overall image of his government.” Once the poll heat and dust settles down, sources reveal,”Fadnavis will take drastic decisions in the interest of Maharashtra.”

Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “Development is our main agenda both for government and politics. The poll results have proved it…Despite coalition disputes, we have never compromised on governance.”

A senior bureaucrat requesting anonymity said, ” Every important policy decision and project irrespective of which party holds the portfolio will be thoroughly scrutinized by the CM.”

Many in the state government believe that the experiences of the Mahayuti’s first year rule will help the current government in being firm at tackling issues like caste polarisation. Situations like the Maratha versus OBC polarisation which brought a lot of political upheaval, would be better dealt with, sources said.

The government has already constituted a sub-committee led by Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil which will closely monitor and address any issues arising on Maratha reservation.
Experts predict that Fadnavis will not shield Mahayuti allies or let them off the hook if found engaging in any wrongdoing or corruption. “In the past there have been several instances where Fadnavis let out alliance partners with stern warning. Now, he will ensure their exit, a cabinet member said.

With a three-party coalition pulling the administration in three different directions, Fadnavis reckons it does not auger well for government image. Sooner than later he will have to ensure rules and regulations are not for officers but politicians too.

When the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh on December 9, 2024 rocked the government, he ensured NCP minister Dhananjay Munde resigned. Similarly, Manikrao Kokate who was charged for housing fraud was shown the door.

But when it came to instances of corruption and misconduct involving Shiv Sena ministers Sanjay Shirsat, or Yogesh Kadam’s dance bar controversy, he had to buckle to Shinde’s pressure and retain them in cabinet.