Ahead of SC judgement on political crisis, Fadnavis says ‘I will be back’

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis visited a temple in Kolhapur and used the slogan 'mee punha yein' (I will be back), raising speculation about his political future.

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday took many by surprise when he said ‘mee punha yein (I will be back)’, a slogan he used during the 2019 assembly polls to refer to his return as chief minister.

Mumbai, India - April 08, 2023: Saroj Mahapatra, Professional Assistance and Development Action (PRADAN) is one of India’s foremost agencies working on large-scale rural poverty alleviation. Union minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis and former speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Shri Dilip Walse-Patil, present the Yashraj Bharati Samman 2023 in "Transforming People’s Lives" category to Saroj Mahapatra, at NCPA, in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, April 08, 2023. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

The statement assumed significance ahead of the Supreme Court verdict on disqualification of 16 rebel MLAs, among others, that would decide the fate of the Eknath Shinde-led government, a BJP leader said.

Fadnavis, who was on a Karnataka tour for the assembly poll campaign, visited Narsimha temple at Nittur in Kolhapur on his way back to Maharashtra. This was an unscheduled stop which he made at the request of local MLA Shivajirao Patil on the occasion of Narasimha Jayanti.

“Mee punha yein. One cannot be contented by visiting the temple just once. I will certainly come back, and everybody knows when I say it, I do it,” he said while addressing party workers. “Narsimha is my clan deity and (like him) I can emerge from anywhere.”

In 2019, Fadnavis used this slogan during the election campaign. However, the BJP could not form government despite being the single largest party. The undivided Shiv Sena, which was the BJP’s alliance partner in the elections, snapped ties and joined hands with the Congress and the NCP to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi. The Uddhav Thackeray-led government was toppled in June 2022 after the Sena suffered a vertical split.