Fadnavis’ Gadchiroli feat

Fadnavis made it a point to personally go for the surrender function. “I would have gone to the jungle too if it was being organised there,” he quipped in his speech

The surrender of one of the country’s seniormost Maoist leaders Mallojula Venugopal alias Bhupathi, along with 60 other Maoists, comes as a major triumph for the Maharashtra government. Getting Bhupathi, who is a politburo member of the banned CPI (Maoist), to surrender by negotiating with him following his differences with other leaders of the outfit, is being perceived as a major coup of the home department led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

TOPSHOT - This handout photograph taken on October 15, 2025, and released by India's Maharashtra state Chief Minister's office shows the state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (L) posing alongside senior Maoist rebel leader Mallojula Venugopal Rao, also known as "Sonu", as they hold an AK47 assault rifle during an event at Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, as the leader surrendered with around 60 fighters, after the guerrillas announced a halt to their decades-long insurgency. India is waging an intense campaign against the last remnants of the Naxalite rebellion, named after the village in the Himalayan foothills where the Maoist-inspired insurgency began nearly six decades ago. (Photo by India's Maharashtra state Chief Minister's office / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / India's Maharashtra state Chief Minister's Office / - / HANDOUT / " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (AFP)

According to CMO officials, the plan to get Bhupathi to give himself up was underway ever since his wife and Maoist leader Tarakka Sidam relinquished arms before Fadnavis in January 2025. While Bhupathi was in two minds about surrendering, and whether to do this in Maharashtra or Chhattisgarh, a CMO official said that Fadnavis was particularly keen on his surrender, as it would send a clear signal that Maoists were on their way out in Maharashtra and Gadchiroli, which earlier governments had been unable to achieve.

Fadnavis made it a point to personally go for the surrender function. “I would have gone to the jungle too if it was being organised there,” he quipped in his speech. Ending Maoist activity was one of Fadnavis’ major objectives when he became the guardian minister of Gadchiroli during his first term as CM and continued when he joined the Shinde government as home minister. Bhupathi’s surrender is thus also significant for him personally.

Wadettiwar gets an earful

Senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar’s move to organise a march of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) against the government’s September 2 Government Resolution (GR) on granting Marathas reservation from the OBC quota has not gone down well with other Maharashtra Congress leaders, who made their disapproval evident in a recent meeting. Former state Congress chief Nana Patole, an OBC member, declared that criticising the Maratha community in this manner was not on. He was backed by another senior leader, Balasaheb Thorat, following which other leaders too spoke up. The party’s Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala indulged in some hard talk, telling Wadettiwar that the Congress’ policy was to represent all communities, and it was thus improper to lead a march of one community against another.

Making matters worse for Wadettiwar was the fact that in his Saturday rally at Beed, OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal showed an old video in which Wadettiwar was seen supporting Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil in his demand for reservation for Marathas from the OBC quota. Wadettiwar later clarified that he was supporting Jarange-Patil’s demand for Marathas with Kunbi antecedents, and said that the video had been shown without the context.

Bhujbal’s attack on Vikhe-Patil

NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal’s attack on senior BJP minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil has raised eyebrows in political circles, especially in the Mahayuti camp. Addressing the OBC “Elgar rally” to oppose the government’s September 2 GR for Marathas, Bhujbal trained his guns on Vikhe-Patil, who heads the state cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation and successfully negotiated with Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil during the latter’s recent agitation in Mumbai. Bhujbal criticised Vikhe-Patil for the GR and warned him that OBCs would not support him in the elections. “He spread hatred in Maharashtra,” he remarked. The attack was surprising, given that Vikhe-Patil did not take the decision on issuing a GR on his own.

Significantly, the BJP minister recently travelled to Jalna to meet Jarange-Patil and assured him that the government was following up on its promises. Some ministers in the Mahayuti government feel that he is smartly positioning himself as the champion of the Maratha cause. Following Bhujbal’s stinging criticism, Vikhe-Patil told media persons that he would soon meet the NCP leader to resolve the “misunderstanding” in Bhujbal’s mind.

Kadu bitter about BJP

Former legislator from Amravati Bachchu Kadu, who recently accused the BJP of backstabbing, has come full circle. An independent MLA heading a small party, he was made a minister by Uddhav Thackeray for supporting the MVA coalition government. In June 2022, when Eknath Shinde pulled down the Thackeray government with the help of the BJP, Kadu joined Shinde, famously saying that he did so following a phone call from Fadnavis. The reason for his outburst against the BJP now is the government’s decision to cancel the allotment of an office promised to his party. The Shinde government had granted him more than half the space allotted to the Janata Dal (S) at Backbay Reclamation but following objections by the latter, the Fadnavis government cancelled it. Kadu is now accusing the BJP of adopting a “use and throw” policy.