Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seems to have played his part well as a BJP chieftain in ensuring his party’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections. Fadnavis is being credited for holding the BJP fort at a time when Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) led by AIMIM and Prakash Ambedkar has added a third dimension to the high-stake contest between the NDA and the Congress-NCP combine in Maharashtra. The BJP’s poll strategy ensured that the saffron party retain its 2014 tally of 23 seats despite latent anti-incumbency and drought. The results will further strengthen Fadnavis’ hand as the state faces the crucial Assembly elections in September-October this year.
Fadnavis, 48, who became chief minister in October 2014, is set to complete a full term in office, which is rare in Maharashtra’s political history. “Fadnavis had addressed 97 rallies in the state during the Lok Sabha campaigning. The morale of BJP workers is high and we expect to replicate our performance in the assembly polls under Fadnavis’s leadership,” said state BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari.