Devendra Fadnavis: The Architect Of BJP’s Historic Hat-Trick Victory In Maharashtra

Devendra Fadnavis led the BJP to a third consecutive victory in the Maharashtra elections. The feat is attributed to Fadnavis' dedication, resilience, and strategic approach.

Maharashtra has witnessed a historic political chapter with Devendra Fadnavis leading the BJP to a third consecutive majority, marking an unprecedented milestone in the state’s politics. The BJP crossed the 100-seat mark for the third time in a row, a feat unmatched by any leader in Maharashtra’s history.

The victory is being attributed to Devendra Fadnavis who is seen as a dedicated BJP worker and has shown resilience and a strategic approach in the recent polls. After serving as Chief Minister in 2014, Fadnavis faced a setback in 2019 when Uddhav Thackeray, through what he termed a "betrayal", took the Chief Minister’s position. Despite this, Fadnavis rebuilt the party, showcased aggressive opposition leadership, and later realigned political equations to bring his party back into government. In a move exhibiting party loyalty, he accepted the role of Deputy Chief Minister in the Eknath Shinde-led government while taking full responsibility for the government’s performance.

In the aftermath of a significant setback in the Lok Sabha elections, BJP workers in Maharashtra were demoralised but the central leadership entrusted Fadnavis with complete authority over seat allocation and campaigning, a move that proved instrumental in the BJP’s success.

When Fadnavis Faced Personal Attack Amid Maharashtra Election Campaign

Throughout this election, Fadnavis faced relentless criticism from the Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, comprising all its constituent parties such as the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP(SP). Even in the face of personal attacks, even involving his family he maintained his composure. One such instance was when Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar took a dig at his wife Amruta Fadnavis, saying that the responsibility of protecting dharm [religion] should rest upon everyone and not just the general public. Speaking at a public meeting in Maharashtra's Nagpur, he said: "When they speak about protecting dharm [religion], the responsibility should be taken up by everyone. It is not acceptable if we are protecting religion while Deputy Chief Minister's wife is busy making reels."

In response, Fadnavis told News 18 Lokmat: "I have been tolerating these personal attacks for the last five years. The hate campaign that the Maha Vikas Aghadi has launched against me is nothing new. I have been the Home Minister for the past 2.5 years and I know who's running which campaign."

"They should be ashamed of themselves for launching these vile personal attacks on a woman. Truth can be harassed but not defeated. They only wanted to defeat Devendra Fadnavis. But I gained from this due to my track record. People understood that I was being targeted and sympathised with me," he added.

Notably, in his speech on the Maharashtra poll win, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised the scale of the victory as he stated, “The land of greats like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Savitribai Phule, Veer Savarkar, and Balasaheb Thackeray broke all records. In the last 50 years, this is the biggest mandate for a pre-poll alliance.”

The Prime Minister highlighted the BJP's strong performance, stating, “BJP alone has gotten more seats than the Congress and its allies. This shows that the country only trusts the BJP for development.” He added that this was the third consecutive time a BJP-led alliance had secured victory in the state. 

The results highlighted Fadnavis’s appeal among the youth and a preference for his developmental policies and bold decisions. From 2014 to 2019, and subsequently from 2022 to 2024, Maharashtra witnessed significant progress under his leadership especially in terms of infrastructure.