Fadnavis dousing the many fires lit by irate allies

Fadnavis, who is seen as the de facto chief of the state BJP and anchor of the ruling alliance, has become the link of party leaders with the central leadership

MUMBAI: Lately, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has been dashing back and forth between Mumbai and Delhi to participate in the many closed-door parleys at the headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as he is a member of its central election committee (CEC). When in Mumbai, he is busy calming the frayed nerves of disgruntled politicians, from within the party as well as alliance partners from the Mahayuti, who either queue up at his official bungalow at Malabar Hill, Sagar, to seek tickets or express anguish over being denied tickets or oppose the candidate selected by the party.

Fadnavis dousing the many fires lit by irate allies

It is an expected consequence, given the inclusion of leaders from other alliance partners, noted a senior party leader. Fadnavis, who is perceived as the de facto chief of the state BJP and anchor of the ruling alliance, has become the link of party leaders with the central leadership.

Here is a roll-call of the political heavyweights that queued up at Fadnavis’s place recently: Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar, sitting MP Ranjit Nimbalkar, Udayanraje Bhosale, his cousin Shivendraraje Bhosale, minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, minister Sanjay Rathod, former IAS officer Praveen Pardeshi, party’s Jaunpur (UP) candidate Kripashankar Singh and leaders from Konkan.

On Thursday, a delegation of leaders from north India dropped in to convey their fears about north Indians moving away from BJP if it joined hands with Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which in the past built its equity with its anti-north Indian stance.

On the other hand, there are many cross-fires to be doused within the party – most prominently, over the candidatures in Madha, Satara, Kolhapur, Mumbai South and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituencies.

According to a BJP leader, heads of at least a dozen LS constituencies called on Fadnavis over the last three days. Senior party leader Vijaysinh Mohite Patil has raised an objection to the party fielding Ranjitsinh Nimbalkar from Madha, Solapur. Mohite Patil was eyeing the seat for his nephew Dhairyasheel. While the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Udayanraje Bhosale is resolute about contesting from Satara, the party is not confident over his candidature. “Fadnavis met the leaders from these districts and tried to bring about a truce. He spoke to Udayanraje and discussed why the party was putting its weight behind Satara MLA Shivendraraje Bhosale,” said the leader.

Meanwhile, assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, who had already started his campaign from Mumbai South, is displeased with BJP extending an olive branch to MNS with the seat expected to go to the fourth alliance partner.

Leaders from Konkan -- Pramod Jathar and Rajan Teli – called on Fadnavis, not too happy with the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena staking its claim on Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency. The leaders from the district reportedly insisted on Ravindra Chavan’s candidature, opposing the possibility of party favourite union minister Narayan Rane and Shinde camp’s Kiran Samant being considered for the seat.

On the other hand, the party is unable to take a call on the candidate for the Osmanabad constituency against Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Omraje Nimbalkar. Fadnavis met MLAs Rana Jagjitsinh, Abhimanyu Pawar, former MP Ravi Gaikwad and former IAS officer Praveen Pardeshi to discuss the candidature. Pardeshi is expected to get the seat.

Leaders and workers from Hingoli, Pune, Jalgaon and Dhule met the DyCM to discuss disputes that have erupted between potential candidates and those whose names have been announced. Some have even resigned from the party since.

Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, whose son Sujay is Ahmednagar Lok Sabha candidate, reportedly complained about non-cooperation from local BJP leaders like Ram Shinde and others. State minister Sanjay Rathod (from the Shinde-led Sena) who is interested to fight from Yavatmal-Washim, in place of sitting MP Bhavana Gawli, met Fadnavis to push his candidature.

“The strife in many districts is leading to the announcement of the second list from Maharashtra. The voices of dissent are surfacing either from serious differences or to secure the future benefits and conditional support for candidates. Some are even looking for assurances for the forthcoming assembly elections. Fadnavis has been using all available devices to douse the differences,” said a BJP leader close to him.

In some cases, he had a one-on-one with some leaders himself. Gopal Shetty, MP from Mumbai North who was denied ticket by the party, was one such leader. In some other cases, he deputed his close confidante Girish Mahajan to ease the differences. Mahajan met party leaders from Solapur and Satara.

Fadnavis is expected to attend the CEC meet in Delhi today, where he will brief the central leadership about his meetings over the last three days. “The second list of candidates is expected to be announced late on Saturday or early morning on Sunday,” the leader added.