How a bal swayamsevak from Nagpur won, lost, and then reclaimed his state

Devendra Fadnavis returns as Maharashtra's chief minister, marking his third term, amid a backdrop of past corruption allegations and political rivalries.

Devendra Fadnavis burst onto Maharashtra’s political stage between 2009 and 2014 with his regular “exposes” of alleged corruption in irrigation projects, targetting Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal and Sunil Tatkare of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which was then in power in partnership with the Congress.

Devendra Fadnavis, is set to take oath as chief minister of Maharashtra on Thursday. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

Fadnavis’s hammering of corruption allegations, including over Mumbai’s Adarsh apartments, was so effective that it became a national talking point, and emerged as one of the factors in the eventual ouster of the United Progressive