Fadnavis to play double role in state, national politics?

Mumbai: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ elevation to the central election committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come as a shot in the arm for the party’s designated leader (as next chief minister of Maharashtra) for the 2024 state Assembly polls. This development has come even as Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan have been relegated by the party. A person familiar with the development said, “Unlike what is being bandied about in the news media about Fadnavis being readied for a Central government role in the near future, fact is that the party high command has designated him as the BJP CM not only for the 2024 state assembly elections, but also for a couple of terms thereafter.” His inclusion into the committee which features no other deputy CM is the planned infusion of young blood at the highest political level by the party, he added.

Along with Fadnavis --who will play a crucial role in the forthcoming elections in Maharashtra in 2024-- the BJP has also inducted Om Prakash Mathur, national vice president into the central committee with an weye on impending elections in his home state of Rajasthan in 2023. Similarly, National General Secretary of BJP, Sudha Yadav’s induction is a focussed move with elections due in Haryana. She has been acknowledged for her long service for the BJP from the state. S i m i l a r l y , Satyanarayan Jatiya has been inducted to counterbalance the exit of Shivrajsingh Chauhan, who has been phased out of the political scheme of things going ahead by the BJP. Jatiya had served as a Union minister under the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government till 2004. “Both Chauhan and Gadkari have had a long tenure in government and were removed from their respective perches in a conscious move that had been apparent for the last couple of years. Gadkari’s health and age were a deciding factor that worked against him. On the other hand, former Karnataka CM and senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa was inducted into the committee keeping in mind the forthcoming elections in the state. This is because his Lingayat (pol i t i c a l l y - d o m i n a n t caste) will play a pivotal role in the state assemblies.”