Rocky Maharashtra polls ahead, BJP in two minds over Devendra Fadnavis

His supporters say it is the central BJP that is behind the position Fadnavis finds himself in, refusing him a CM post and relegating him to Deputy CM even as the Mahayuti alliance has itself become unwieldy with the addition of Shiv Sena and NCP factions after their splits.

Now, talk has begun again that Fadnavis should be brought to the Centre by the BJP, with a few suggesting his name for party president, a post that has long been waiting for a new name. Sources said that these voices, coming largely from the RSS camp, are keen on this as they expect that Fadnavis may again be deprived of CM post should the Mahayuti win the Assembly polls.

According to a source, Shiv Sena leader and CM Eknath Shinde has been assured that he would retain the post even if his party wins just over 40 seats in the state Assembly out of the total 288.

But those on the other side argue that moving Fadnavis would give a wrong signal ahead of the Maharashtra polls given his acceptability across the state. His detractors go further and see a game plan to insulate Fadnavis from any backlash if the BJP does badly in the Maharashtra polls.

Incidentally, RSS sah sarkaryawah Atul Limaye, appointed by the Sangh as the coordinator for the Maharashtra elections, has been advising the state unit to project “a collective leadership” in the Assembly elections instead of one face.

There are those who feel Fadnavis should face the heat for the Lok Sabha poll performance, saying he played a key role in the party’s candidate selection and election strategy. Hence, he should not be seen as being “rewarded” at the national level so soon, say these leaders.

This group also accuses Fadnavis of sidelining state BJP leaders, at the cost of the party. While Eknath Khadse left the BJP to join the NCP, Pankaja Munde voiced her displeasure many times openly at being “sidelined”, while former MP Poonam Mahajan could not manage a Lok Sabha ticket.

Sources said that Fadnavis, a Brahmin, was to blame for adding fuel to the Maratha quota protests as well, due to the police firing on the protesters. The Home portfolio is held by Fadnavis. His counterparts in the government, Sena chief and CM Eknath Shinde and NCP chief and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in contrast, are both Marathas and have largely been spared the community’s anger.

A party source said: “At a time when the state is going for polls, appointing him at the helm of affairs of the BJP would send a wrong message to the Maratha community.”

Then there is the question of finding Fadnavis’s replacement in Maharashtra if he is moved to the Centre. Sources admitted that the BJP would struggle to find anyone with “the acceptance and credibility” across the state like him. One distant possibility is BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde – also seen as having been sidelined by Fadnavis, but later promoted by the central BJP — who is a prominent OBC leader. However, the quota agitation finds Marathas rallied against the OBCs, who fear a dilution of their share.

Leaders close to Fadnavis say he is himself not keen to shift base from Maharashtra. “Once shifted to the Centre, he would not be able to come back to the state, where he is more comfortable. His dream of occupying the CM’s chair again will remain unfulfilled,” said a state BJP leader.

About the poor Lok Sabha poll performance, leaders in his camp said that a bigger share of the responsibility should fall to the BJP’s new allies. They point out that the Shinde-led Sena won only five seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP just one.

Meanwhile, the first glimpses of Fadnavis’s campaign are here and they depict him as “Aadhunik Abhimanyu (modern-day Abhimanyu)”. In the Mahabharata, Abhimanyu enters the enemy’s impregnable defence, but dies fighting as he doesn’t know the way out. Fadnavis’s campaign hints that he is surrounded by enemies, with his own people not standing by him.

Next up, said sources, will be the burnishing of Fadnavis’s image as an endearing “motha bhau (big brother)”.