File Pic : BJP state president and local MLA Devendra Fadnavis and his wife appear happy after locking their votes in EVM during recently held Loksabha Election
Nagpur: On the eve of big polling day in Maharashtra, a wave of silence prevails over the state including Nagpur where the fight this time is quite crucial as BJP’s State President and contestant from South West Nagpur Devendra Fadnavis is the centre of attraction. With all his poll credentials and his responsibilities as BJP’s torchbearer in Maharashtra election, Devendra Fadnavis has appeared as the BJP’s sure prospect to the Chief Minister’s post.
The poll pundits have already predicted BJP as the frontrunner to the power race in the state, and Fadnavis with his ‘clean image’ has become the most preferred choice for the top job in Maharashtra. At an election rally near Nagpur, the venue was echoed with the slogans of ‘Kendrat Narendra, Rajyat Narendra’ that signals party high command’s consent to Fadnavis as CM, if their party is voted to power.
In fact, Fadnavis, from Nagpur, also has the RSS’ support, which is crucial for any decision that the party finally takes.
The BJP is hoping to emerge as the single largest party, taking advantage of the five-cornered contest that is slated for October 15. After breaking the alliance with the Shiv Sena, BJP had been groping in the dark for a leader it could project in the state, especially in the absence of a prominent face like Gopinath Munde, who died in a car crash in Delhi, some months ago.
Spearheading BJP’s first assembly polls in 25 years without the Sena, has been a tough task for Fadnavis, who rose from the ranks in the Maharashtra BJP. He was president of the youth wing in 1989 and at 27 appointed mayor of Nagpur.
In an interview Fadnavis said, “There is no doubt in my mind that the BJP will form the next government in Maharashtra. We are 100 percent certain of getting a majority,” He added that the BJP will have a comfortable majority in the 288-member legislature along with the support of smaller parties of the truncated Grand Alliance.
He also ruled the possibility of the other four main parties — the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena — ganging up to keep the BJP out of power if it emerges as the single largest entity.
“The Congress and NCP are in such a bad shape that they cannot form a government with any other party. Besides, Maharashtra generally goes with the ruling party at the centre (now BJP),” says Fadnavis.
