• Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister, while leaders of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, were sworn in as deputy Chief Ministers at a grand ceremony in south Mumbai's sprawling Azad Maidan. 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union Ministers and Chief Ministers of various states besides thousands of supporters of the Mahayuti alliance were present at the swearing in ceremony, held almost a fortnight after results of the state Assembly elections were declared on November 23. 

• Fadnavis, 54, elected from Nagpur South West constituency, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan, who also swore in Shinde (60) and Pawar (65). 

• While this is the third time as CM for Fadnavis, for Ajit Pawar, it is his sixth time as deputy CM. 

• Fadnavis has also become the state’s first deputy CM to become the Chief Minister. 

• Fadnavis emerged as the frontrunner for the top post as he was the face of the BJP’s campaign and led the party to victory in 132 seats in the 288-member House. The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP ‘Mahayuti’ coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seats. 

Political journey of Devendra Fadnavis

• Devendra Fadnavis is a political stalwart who rose from humble beginnings to become a key figure in Maharashtra politics. 

• The 54-year-old leader’s career has been marked by a blend of resilience and strategic manoeuvring.

• Fadnavis’s political journey has been nothing short of remarkable. From serving as an obscure corporator to becoming the youngest mayor of Nagpur, he has strengthened his status as a prominent leader within his party. 

• Son of Jan Sangh and later BJP leader late Gangadhar Fadnavis, whom his fellow Nagpur politician and former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari calls his “political guru”, Devendra cut his teeth in politics at a young age when he joined Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the students wing of RSS, in 1989.

• At 22, he became a corporator in the Nagpur civic body and its youngest Mayor in 1997 at the age of 27.

• Fadnavis contested his first Assembly election in 1999 and won. There was no looking back for him as he won subsequent Assembly elections. 

• His ascent began in earnest ahead of the 2014 Assembly elections, where he garnered significant support from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leader Amit Shah. Modi famously referred to him as “Nagpur’s gift to the country” during a campaign rally, underscoring the confidence placed in Fadnavis.

• Though Modi had launched a campaign blitzkrieg in the 2014 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly polls, a portion of the credit also went to Fadnavis, then state BJP president, for the party’s unprecedented victories in the elections.

• His stature within the BJP grew, leading to his appointment as Maharashtra’s Chief Minister in 2014, making him the state’s second-youngest CM. 

• Among the most articulate Maharashtra politicians, Fadnavis is also credited with pushing the previous Congress-NCP government into a corner over the alleged irrigation scam.

• Fadnavis experienced a setback in the aftermath of the 2019 Assembly elections as the then united Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray pulled out of the pre-poll alliance over sharing of CM’s post, shattering the BJP leader’s much-hyped “mee punha yein (I will come back again)” slogan.

• Fadnavis was sworn in as the CM for the second time on November 23, 2019 and Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the deputy Chief Minister. However, before a Supreme Court-ordered no confidence motion could take place, Fadnavis quit on November 26, three days after taking oath as the CM.

• Uddhav Thackeray, propped up by Sharad Pawar-led NCP, later became the CM, but quit after senior Sena leader Eknath Shinde split the party and later became the CM.

• After Thackeray demitted office following the large-scale desertions in the Sena, many political observers thought that Fadnavis, who they knew was behind the episode, would become the CM. However, the BJP leadership had other plans and a reluctant Fadnavis was asked to occupy the deputy CM’s post.

• Though he hails from a politically active family, his father and aunt both served in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Fadnavis has crafted his own distinct political identity.

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