Devendra Fadnavis is back in the reckoning

Amit Shah confirms Devendra Fadnavis as BJP's face in Maharashtra elections, while Shiv Sena (UBT) faces challenges in key constituencies.

Union home minister Amit Shah’s remarks last Friday confirmed what was being talked about in the BJP for the past few days: Devendra Fadnavis will continue to be the face of the party in Maharashtra. Following the BJP’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, there were speculations that a collective leadership would be put forth in the assembly elections. The conjecture gained ground when a core committee was formed to handle the election coordination committee with Raosaheb Danve as its convenor. However, as the candidates were finalised, it became clear that Fadnavis was still the dominating factor in the state BJP. The party’s campaign advertisements and hoardings were also clear indications that the BJP is fighting the election under Fadnavis’ leadership.

Devendra Fadnavis will continue to be the face of the party in Maharashtra. (ANI Photo) (Chandrakant Paddhane)

Speaking at a rally at Sangli on Friday, Shah appealed to the people to vote for Fadnavis. This is also being seen as an indication that Fadnavis could be the party’s choice for CM if the Mahayuti wins power and the BJP gets the chief ministership. While chief minister Eknath Shinde has preferred to maintain silence on the issue, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on the same day told a Marathi channel that the chief minister’s post was not a priority for him now but winning the maximum assembly seats was.

On Sunday, Shah said the CM will be decided by the allies after the elections but it is more or less clear in the party that Fadnavis could be the first choice it the top post comes the BJP’s way.

With barely ten days to voting, the Shiv Sena (UBT) seems to be wary about the Shivdi constituency, which is regarded as a party stronghold. While local leader Sudhir Salvi was keen to contest, party chief Uddhav Thackeray renominated sitting MLA Ajay Chaudhary since he had decided to give tickets to all the MLAs who remained loyal to him when Shinde split the party in 2022. A large number of Sena (UBT) workers showed their support to Salvi, who was preparing to contest as an independent. Thackeray then called Salvi to Matoshree and pacified him but local Sena leaders say he is not very active in the campaign.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has fielded Bala Nandgaonkar, who won the Shivdi seat in 2009 when Raj Thackeray had created a buzz. The Shinde-led Sena has not fielded a candidate, which may benefit Nandgaonkar. Losing the Shivdi seat could be a major embarrassment for the Shiv Sena (UBT) since the Lalbaug-Parel-Shivdi area of Central Mumbai is a traditional Sena bastion. To improve the situation, Aaditya Thackeray held a rally in Shivdi on Saturday.

Where will the money come from?

Officers in the finance department are worried about the kind of sops being announced by the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition MVA. The promised cash handouts and loan waivers will mean an even bigger burden on the exchequer in addition to ₹96,000 crore earmarked through a supplementary budget for populist schemes announced by the Mahayuti government. With limited revenue and the state debt already crossing ₹7 lakh crore, the officials are wondering where the money will come from. A senior officer said that it would not be surprising if there were no takers for the top posts in the finance department after the new government takes over at the end of this month.

Don’t vote for NCP candidate: Amit Shah

Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday appealed to voters to vote for a BJP and not an NCP candidate. This happened in Morshi in Amravati district where both the BJP and NCP have put up candidates. The BJP has fielded Umesh Yavalkar while Devendra Bhuyar, an independent MLA from Morshi, joined the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and was given a ticket by the latter. “We have an alliance all over Maharashtra but here we have a friendly fight,” said Shah. A local NCP leader said that both allies had fielded candidates by taking into account the local equations. “In either case, the seat will be won by Mahayuti,” he said.

MNS-Sena love-hate relation continues

A love-hate relationship continues between the Shiv Sena and the MNS. The two parties are opponents in Mahim (where Raj Thackeray’s son Amit is locked in a triangular contest, as sitting Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar refused to withdraw from the fray) and Worli (where the MNS’s Sandeep Deshpande and Sena’s Milind Deora are challenging Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray) even while the Sena has supported the MNS in Shivdi. In Byculla, the MNS has supported Sena candidate Yamini Jadhav.

In Kalyan, MP Shrikant Shinde is not campaigning for the MNS’s lone MLA Raju Patil though he campaigned for BJP’s Sulabha Gaikwad, whose husband Ganpat Gaikwad is in jail for firing at a Shiv Sena leader earlier this year. While all this is happening, Raj Thackeray continues to take potshots at Shinde in his rallies. The relations between the two parties have turned sour over Mahim, as Sarvankar did not back out from the contest.