Devendra Fadnavis

Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis (born 22 July 1970) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra since 5 December 2024 with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as his deputies, and previously held this position for two terms from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, alongside Ajit Pawar in the Eknath Shinde government. Besides this, from 2019 to 2022, he served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. He was the President of BJP's Maharashtra state unit from 2013 to 2015. He became Chief Minister at the age of 44, making him the second-youngest in Maharashtra's history after Sharad Pawar.

During the 2019 Maharashtra political crisis, he briefly held a second term as Chief Minister for 5 days before resigning on 28 November 2019. Fadnavis has been a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), he has represented the Nagpur South West constituency in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly since 2009, having previously served Nagpur West from 1999 to 2009. Additionally, he held the position of Mayor of Nagpur from 1997 to 1999.

Life and education

Fadnavis was born in a Marathi Deshastha Brahmin family in Nagpur to Gangadhar Fadnavis and Sarita Fadnavis. His father, Gangadhar Fadnavis, was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from Nagpur. His mother, Sarita Fadnavis, belonged to the Kaloti family of Amravati and had previously served as a director of the Vidarbha Housing Credit Society.

Fadnavis did his initial schooling at Indira Convent, named after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. During the Emergency, Fadnavis' father, being a member of the Jan Sangh, was imprisoned for participating in anti-government protests. Fadnavis subsequently refused to continue his schooling at Indira Convent, as he did not want to attend a school named after the Prime Minister he held responsible for imprisoning his father. He was then transferred to the Saraswati Vidyalaya School, Nagpur, where he received most of his schooling. Fadnavis attended Dharampeth Junior College for his higher secondary.

Fadnavis holds a bachelor of laws degree from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar College of Law, Nagpur University, completed in 1992. He also has a post graduate degree in Business Management and diploma in Methods and Techniques of Project Management from DSE-German Foundation for International Development, Berlin, Germany, completed in the year 1998.

Fadnavis practices Hinduism. He married Amruta Fadnavis, an actress, singer and banker, in 2005. Both of them met at a marriage ceremony of a common friend. After two years of marriage, the couple had a daughter, Divija Fadnavis, in 2007.

Early political career

Many of Fadnavis's family members have been involved in electoral politics. Both his father Gangadhar Rao Fadnavis and aunt Sobha Fadnavis were members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and served in the state legislature. He began his political career in the mid-nineties. Since that time he served in multiple leadership roles for both his political party and as an elected representative. As a college student, Fadnavis was an active member of the RSS affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), and formally joined the organisation in 1989. Later in the year 1992 at the age of 22 he became a Corporator. He represented the Ram Nagar Ward in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. 5 years later, in 1997, Fadnavis at 27 became the youngest mayor of the Nagpur and became the second-youngest mayor in the history of India. As a Mayor, he tackled the city's water crisis and launched the Pench Water Supply Scheme. He also made the decision to double property tax, and this raised 35 crore rupees for the municipal corporation which was in financial stress. He remained as Mayor of the city until 1999, and later held a position in the newly created Mayor in Council from 1999 to 2001, after the system was introduced by Manohar Joshi-led Maharashtra government.

Fadnavis has been representing constituencies located within Nagpur in the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra State (Vidhan Sabha) since 1999, marking his formal entry into state legislative politics. He was elected to the assembly in 1999 from Nagpur West defeating the Congress candidate. In 2004 election, he was re-elected to the assembly from the same constituency defeating Anees Ahmed of Congress. Later in 2009 election, he contested from the newly created Nagpur South West constituency, and defeated Vikas Thakre from the Congress.

Fadnavis took over as the president of the Maharashtra unit of the BJP in 2013. His appointment to this position have been credited to his closeness with the RSS. According to political commentators, the top leadership of the party appointed him on advice of the RSS. Besides this, Fadnavis being one of the youngest BJP state presidents, his appointment was also seen as an attempt by the party to attract youth voters. His appointment to the position was seen as a mutual compromise by Gopinath Munde-led and Nitin Gadkari-led factions within the state unit of the party. While Fadnavis has been considered close to the faction led by Munde, he has also not criticised Gadkari. Nevertheless, his appointment was seen as a setback for the Gadkari and was considered that he was being sidelined by the Munde. His appointment was made when tension between the then deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Munde and former party national president Gadkari was already high. During his term as the party president, he criticised the Congress and NCP for an irrigation scam. He used the issue heavily in successive election campaigns for the Lok Sabha election and the State legislative assembly election, through which he made a name for himself. Due to his campaign against corruption and not being associated with major financial controversies, he gained the nickname "Mr. Clean".

First and second term as chief minister of Maharashtra (2014-2019)

First term (2014−2019)

Background and government formation

Political commentators considered Fadnavis, as the president of the Maharashtra state unit of the BJP, to be a front runner to become the next chief minister due to his closeness to top party leaders like Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. In the run up to the 2014 legislative elections, the BJP and the Shiv Sena severed their ties, and contested the elections separately. The fracture in the alliance resulted from disputes over the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance and the number of constituencies that each parties will contest. After the elections, the BJP became the single largest party, while the Shiv Sena became the second largest party.

Fadnavis took over as the legislative party leader of BJP in the state after winning a vote by the newly elected MLAs of the party. As the leader of the largest party in Maharashtra state assembly, Fadnavis was appointed as the chief minister of Maharashtra on 31 October 2014. BJP formed a minority government initially with Confidence and supply from the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party. The erstwhile alliance partner Shiv Sena chose to sit in opposition, with its legislative party leader Eknath Shinde briefly serving as the leader of the opposition. However, soon after the Shiv Sena joined the Fadnavis-led government, giving the government a majority. He completed his first term for full five years, making him the second person in the state to do so, the other being Vasantrao Naik.

Infrastructure Projects

During his term as the chief minister of Maharashtra, Fadnavis oversaw critical infrastructure projects such as the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway, the Mumbai and Pune Metro expansions, the Coastal Road project, and the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL). He also established a dedicated " War Room" to monitor all the major infrastructure projects in order to address the bottlenecks and ensuring timely completion. Fadnavis announced the commencement of Mumbai's Coastal Road in 2014. The project was completed in 2024 and inaugurated in the same year. In 2019, the Fadnavis-led Governance initiated a scheme to set up a water grid project in Marathwada to address the drought situation. The project included a plan for water grid from Israeli partners.

Social policies and issues

The Maratha Reservation Act is a legislative effort to grant reservations in government jobs and educational institutions to the Maratha community. The Bombay High Court stayed the reservation decision on 14 November, leading to the Bharatiya Janata Party - Shiv Sena government's appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court refused to vacate the Bombay High Court's interim order in December, after which the government had to provide additional information in support of reservations. Fadnavis laid the foundations of the Backward Class Commission in 2015, as directed by the High Court to confirm the fact that the Marathas constitute a backward community. The Fadnavis government also implemented a range of welfare initiatives for the Maratha community. A meeting was concluded on 4 September 2023, at Sahyadri Guest House, Mumbai by the Maharashtra Cabinet sub-committee to discuss the course of action regarding the topic of the Maratha Reservation. The Maratha Reservation and State Backward Classes Commission submitted a report affirming the community's social and educational backwardness. The Maharashtra Assembly unanimously passed a bill on 20 February 2024, providing 10% reservation for the Maratha community in education and government jobs.

2019 election and BJP-Shiv Sena break up

In the 2019 legislative assembly election, the Mahayuti alliance, comprising BJP, Shiv Sena, and other smaller parties, contested together. Fadnavis was considered the face of BJP in Maharashtra during the election, however, a chief minister face from the alliance was not projected. Many Shiv Sena politicians even claimed that the next chief minister will be from Shiv Sena. After the elections, the Mahayuti secured a majority, with the BJP becoming the single largest party again. During the talks of government formation, disagreements regarding the chief minister position between the two key parties within the alliance surfaced. Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray demanded that the chief minister should be from both the parties in a rotation government arrangement. Politicians from Shiv Sena claimed that decision was made between the top leadership of the two parties where candidates from both the parties will occupy the position of chief minister for 2.5 years each. However, this claim was disputed by Fadnavis, and he said that no such promises have been made and he would become the chief minister for 5 years. After successive meetings, no consensus was reached, and the alliance between the parties broke. Fadnavis served as the acting chief minister of Maharashtra, and on 8 November 2024, he resigned from the position. During this time, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari invited the major parties, including BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, to form government. However, due to no consensus being reached, president's rule was imposed in the state on the recommendation of the governor.

Second term (2019)

On 23 November 2019, Fadnavis formed a government with the help of Ajit Pawar of NCP; however, this government only lasted for a few days. During this short period, Fadnavis chaired a climate resilience meeting with representatives of the World Bank, restarted the Chief Minister's refund cell, and sanctioned 5380 crores in aid for farmers. His second tenure was the shortest tenure for any chief minister of the state since its inception.

Leader of opposition (2019-2022) and deputy chief minister of Maharashtra (2022−2024)

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (2019-2022)

After the second Fadnavis government collapsed within 80 hours, BJP became the main opposition party against the newly appointed MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray. Being elected as the party leader of BJP in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Fadnavis assumed the role of the Leader of the Opposition.

Role in 2022 Maharashtra political crisis

Fadnavis has played a key role in the 2022 political crisis that led to the fall of Uddhav led government and a virtual split in Shiv Sena. After a significant amount of Shiv Sena MLAs rebelled against the party leadership, the leader of the rebels Eknath Shinde, union home minister Amit Shah and Fadnavis met in Vadodara, Gujarat reportedly to plan a merger or coalition to topple the Uddhav led government. On 28 June, Fadnavis met Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari and demanded a motion of no confidence against Uddhav Thackeray. Fadnavis himself have claimed that he caused the split within the party.

Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra (2022-2024)

Following the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis, on 30 June 2022, Fadnavis took oath as the 9th Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra with Eknath Shinde as the chief minister. During this time, he held key ministries, including Home Affairs, Law and Judiciary, Water Resources, Command Area Development, Energy, New and Renewable Energy, and Protocol. Initially, before the formation of the government, Fadnavis said in a press conference that he personally will not be a part of the new government, although BJP will join it. According to media reports, Fadnavis was reluctant to become the deputy chief minister. However, BJP national president J. P. Nadda directed Fadnavis to join the Shinde-led government.

Many political commentators have highlighted the position of deputy chief minister to be a downgrade or demotion for Fadnavis. Nevertheless, his role in the government was considered key by political commentators in keeping a check on the Shinde-led Shiv Sena by the top BJP leadership. Fadnavis become the fifth person to become a minister in the state government after serving as the chief minister.

Third term as chief minister of Maharashtra (2024-present)

Background and government formation

Fadnavis was the face of the campaigning done by the Bharatiya Janata Party during the 2024 legislative elections. After the election, BJP emerged as the single largest party, securing 132 seats on its own, only short by 13 seats to form a majority government on its own. Other key allies like Shiv Sena and NCP also performed well. According to Fadnavis, in the first meeting between leaders of the parties in the Maha Yuti alliance, Eknath Shinde, the then chief minister accepted that the chief minister would be from BJP. Fadnavis was appointed as the chief minister of the state for a third time on 5 December 2024, 12 days after the results were announced. Political commentators have highlighted his strategic acumen and loyalty to the party leadership as key factors that led to his naming as the chief minister. Both Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oath as the deputy chief ministers along with Fadnavis.

Elections Contested

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly

Awards and recognition

*Best Parliamentarian Award by Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (2002–03).
*Honorary Doctorate from Osaka City University, Japan (October 2015) - Fadnavis was the first Indian to be conferred with the same for the socio-economic development in Maharashtra.
*Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellow, by Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore (September 2017).
*Outstanding Leadership in Development Award from Georgetown University, United States (June 2018).
*Devendra Fadnavis, along with his delegation, went on an official tour to the Japan as the Government of Japan's state guest from India in August 2023.
*Honorary Doctorate from Koyasan University, Japan (December 2023).

Political positions

Bharat Mata slogans in 2016

In April 2016, while addressing a rally in Nashik, Fadnavis said that, "Every Indian would have to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and those who refuse to chant the slogan should not live in the country and instead go to Pakistan or China." Critics pointed that this was an attempt to corner the Muslims. Fadnavis later issued a clarification that this issue had nothing to do with religion.

Aurangzeb-related remarks in 2023

In June 2023, following the clashes over social media posts glorifying Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Kolhapur, Deputy CM Fadnavis remarked at a public rally that how come so many sympathizers of Aurangzeb, "Aurangzeb Ki Aulad", have surfaced in the state (Maharashtra)?". Several political analysts have criticised Fadnavis's ''Aurangzeb Ki Aulad'' (literal translation "Aurangzeb's Children") remark noting that it constituted a dog whistle to target Muslims in his state. Several Hindu groups opposed the social media posts resulting in communal clashes. Aurangzeb is a controversial figure in Maharashtra, often considered responsible for imposition discriminatory jizya tax on Hindus and demolition of many Hindu temples. Meanwhile, Fadnavis tried to clarify that he did not consider Indian Muslims as Aurangzeb's descendants and that nationalist Muslims do not see Aurangzeb as their hero.

Legal issues and controversies

Non-disclosure of criminal cases in 2014 poll affidavit

In September 2023, a Nagpur court acquitted Fadnavis in a case pertaining to his election affidavit in 2014. A complaint over the non-disclosure of pending FIRs in criminal cases against Fadnavis had been filed by advocate Satish Uke. Uke's contention was that such suppression of information was a violation of the Representation of People's Act. Fadnavis admitted to the non-disclosure during the court proceedings and claimed that it was an inadvertent mistake by his lawyer.

See also

* Devendra Fadnavis ministry (2014–2019)
* Make in Maharashtra
* Politics of Maharashtra

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fadnavis, Devendra
Living people
20th-century mayors of places in India
Mayors of Nagpur
Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Maharashtra
Maharashtra MLAs 2009–2014
1970 births
Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni
Maharashtra MLAs 2014–2019
Chief ministers of Maharashtra
Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party
Politicians from Nagpur
Maharashtra MLAs 2019–2024
Maharashtra MLAs 2024–2029
Leaders of the opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
Deputy chief ministers of Maharashtra
Maharashtra MLAs 1999–2004
Maharashtra MLAs 2004–2009