He took over, swung in action and fetched victory
   Date :24-May-2019

 
Principal Correspondent:
 
The day Amit Shah, National President of Bhartiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi placed the responsibility of Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections on his shoulder, Devendra Fadnavis, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra swung into action. He got engrossed into his election planning, worked on it, chalked out strategy, never rested and Maharashtra fetched maximum seats for BJP. On one TV channel, during election time the anchor had interviewed Fadnavis. During his introduction he narrated the journey of Maharashtra Chief Minister. He said, this time, the path of victory would pass through Maharashtra, and not from Uttar Pradesh as usual. That anchor was rightly indicated the truth. Fadnavis just smiled which is his wont.
 
He never speaks much but speaks wherever necessary. This election saw several new things in Mahrashtra. There was the factor of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supremo Raj Thackeray whose fiery speeches went viral on social media. He targeted Modi-Shah. His public meetings also evoked a huge response that gave an impression that he would give setbacks to BJP. But Fadanvis was very cool and in private talk he did pacified BJP volunteers that Raj speeches would not earn opposition a single seat. This is his coolness that kept building confidence among the party workers in State. Another major twist in the state is of Shiv Sena becoming ally of BJP. It was an impossible task as Shiv Sena constantly hammered BJP for one or the other reason.
 
But the statesmanship of Fadnavis made all the difference and BJP-Shiv Sena became the partners. This partnership not only benefitted BJP to increase its own tally but also it was an advantage Shiv Sena. This particular political development ensured more number of seats for right wing parties then and there. The diplomacy of Fadnavis also proved very effective when during election time he brought several leaders from other parties into BJP’s fold. It was a major setback for the Congress party when Sujay Vikhe-Patil, son of Radhakrisha Vikhe-Patil, Leader of Opposition in State Assembly joined BJP.
 
Fadnavis gave him ticket of Ahmednagar constituency who won the election very comfortably. Another political bigwig Vijaysingh Mohite Patil and his son Ranjitsingh Mohite Patil too joined BJP. Fadnavis addressed 92 public meetings throughout Maharashtra and a few in Madhya Pradesh with 90 per cent of success rate. Jayant Patil, the State President of Nationalist Congress Party, once on the floor of the house in state assembly had openly called Fadnavis as the only Chief Minister of Maharashtra who is a good diplomat, is a good statesman and is very shrewd. Fadnavis did not prove it wrong. He got recognition for the first time during Municipal elections when BJP won 8 Municipal Corporations out of nine in State. Fadnavis emerged as a leader then. Victory of Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections added one more feather to his cap.