‘Will remain in Maharashtra for next 5 years’: Devendra Fadnavis dismisses talk of moving to Delhi

After the Maharashtra government decided to implement the Hyderabad Gazette to grant Kunbi status to Marathas from the Marathwada region earlier this month, the BJP had put up huge ‘DevaBhau’ posters—Bhau meaning brother in Marathi—that showed Fadnavis offering flowers to Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Reflecting on the campaign that had received flak from the Opposition, Fadnavis candidly said, “This nomenclature gained popularity over the years and has wider acceptance.”

He clarified that it was not an attempt to drop his surname or shield his Brahmin caste. “In Maharashtra, Brahmins constitute just 2 per cent of the population. Yet, in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a bold decision to make me the chief minister. And in subsequent elections held thereafter, Lok Sabha, Assembly and local bodies, the BJP emerged as the number one party under my leadership in the state and Modi ji. Therefore, when we talk of caste, let me tell you, caste is in leaders’ minds and not the masses. The masses have accepted me. Or how else does one explain the BJP winning 122 (2014), 105 (2019), and 132 seats (2024) in the Assembly polls,” he asked.

On the Maratha reservation emerging as a big challenge, Fadnavis said, “Challenges come and you have to navigate them with sincere solutions.” On whether the issue had been settled once and for all, he said, “We provide solutions and resolve it. But in politics, for some, it is unsettled. Some may not want it to settle.”

There are multiple challenges, Fadnavis said. “We all thought that this year, the monsoon was good and it would yield good results in the Kharif season. Suddenly, parts of Maharashtra are flooded,” he added. “I believe challenges will come…I positively look at these, trying to find a way forward and address them. This is the beauty of governance and democracy,” he further said.

Fadnavis also stressed that the Mahayuti alliance with the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party will continue. “Coalition politics is here to stay. Aspirations of alliance partners, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, are not undermined by the BJP. Each has space…to grow and accomplish (aspirations),” he said.

On Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s clarion call to India’s Gen Z to fight vote theft, Fadnavis said, “Whoever is in love with Nepal, can stay there. The young people of India do not have the time to protest. Our Gen Z thinks differently. Rahul Gandhi does not have anyone else to bring down the government. His appeal to Gen Z will not work.”