Sunil Gatade | As Fadnavis’ star rises, will he be the BJP’s next Yogi?

The irony is that the BJP, with 132 seats in its kitty and the support of five Independents, had almost got a majority in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, a record for the saffron party, and still the election of the new chief minister was delayed.

As promised, Mr Fadnavis had broken the maze to become the rising star of the Sangh Parivar.

Like in the case of Yogi Adityanath, it could be that the RSS had put its foot down to finally clear the way for Mr Fadnavis. Like the Uttar Pradesh CM, Mr Fadnavis has shown that he is a leader in his own right. He is unquestionably a find of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to whom he is grateful for the experience thus far.

What sent the alarm bells ringing in the BJP high command is that everybody who is anybody in the NDA was present to greet Mr Fadnavis, as well as the top guns of Bollywood and the business world. It was an indicator that he had finally arrived. The chief minister of the wealthiest state was once described as akin to the deputy PM by the late Bal Thackeray some decades back.

Mumbai is the economic capital, and its control is vital for any ruling party.

The victory brought by Mr Fadnavis was more prominent, as the Maharashtra polls this time were basically a “local” affair in which the Prime Minister as well as home minister Amit Shah, the star campaigners, took a back seat.

Whether anyone likes it or not, Mr Fadnavis has landed himself among the “number two” leaders of the BJP, like Amit Shah, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Yogi Adityanath, thereby sending the signal that if other things were preferred, the hardcore RSS man could be destined for bigger things.

Of all these rising leaders, Mr Fadnavis does shine. Despite being a hardcore RSS loyalist, he projects himself as comfortable with the globalised world. Gentle but firm and with good manners and etiquette, he is a picture of perfect patience. But some say that compared with Nitin Gadkari, who had once mentored him, he is not that reliable.

It goes without saying that the strength of Mr Fadnavis lies in that he is not counted among the several faceless chief ministers of the BJP who are there because of being the “yes men” of the high command.

Ironically, among the first leaders who complimented him after becoming the BJP legislature party leader was Vinod Tawde, a BJP national general secretary, who was eyeing his post. The talk is that Mr Tawde, who had failed to get renomination in the last Assembly polls, was propped up by a section of the BJP leadership to cut Mr Fadnavis to size. During the run-up to the polls, Mr Tawde had suggested that there could be someone else as the chief minister this time and not Mr Fadnavis.

Those in the BJP who have crossed the path of Mr Fadnavis have suffered the worst. Eknath Khadse, who was the BJP boss in Maharashtra before the rise of Mr Fadnavis, is now forced to be back in Sharad Pawar’s NCP despite reports suggesting that J.P. Nadda had offered him a bouquet a few months back, that might signal his return.

Pankaja Munde has been forced to turn from being a detractor to a loyalist of Mr Fadnavis for her political survival.

But the path ahead is not all rosy. First and foremost, he would have to bring stability to the government at a time when deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, his boss till yesterday, does not look at all satisfied.

The challenges are galore for Mr Fadnavis, especially over the next year, for him to settle down. With great victories come great responsibilities and expectations -- to deliver, and deliver early.

The next year will also be crucial for Mr Fadnavis amidst consistent claims and allegations by the battered Opposition that the Assembly election results were “shocking and inexplicable” and senior leaders, including Sharad Pawar, are expected to move heaven and earth to get at the truth.

Time is also of the essence for Mr Fadnavis to prove that his victory was not a flash in the pan. Sooner than later, there will be several local body elections, including to the municipal corporations, which will show who stands where and how the winds are blowing.

The moral of the story is that the BJP in Maharashtra will not be the same again after the re-emergence as chief minister of Mr Fadnavis, who feels that he has been granted carte blanche to run the state, unlike most BJP leaders in the states. Mr Fadnavis may not have a strong Opposition in the legislature, but the two allies, incidentally headed by two Marathas, now his deputies in the Cabinet, will strive hard to expand their own parties -- the Shiv Sena and the NCP respectively -- with the help of power.

On the other hand, the BJP high command is aware that the modern-day Abhimanyu is aspiring to be the Arjun of the Mahabharata at a time when murmurs about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s possible successor have begun in political circles after he secured a record third term.

Therefore, Mr Fadnavis has to tackle his own bosses in the party on the one hand, as well as Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar on the other, and do both delicately and skilfully. That is because he lacks a caste support base and does not have a vote bank, which Yogi Adityanath has, not only just in Uttar Pradesh but in the Hindi heartland as a whole, being a Thakur.

Obviously, Mr Fadnavis has to tread cautiously because of the hidden rivals in his own party. Therefore, every election in Maharashtra will test his leadership, and that will decide his stability and longevity in power.

Maharashtra is not an ordinary state. It took 10 long years for the BJP to stabilise in the state after the emergence of Mr Modi on the national stage. The BJP’s victory in Maharashtra was no less than “operation blitzkrieg”. Mr Fadnavis’ road to a bigger national role depends upon how well he tackles Maharashtra.