MUMBAI: After 10 days of suspense, the unanimous election of Devendra Fadnavis as the BJP’s legislative chief came as an immense relief. It also fuelled ministerial ambitions for many.
With caretaker CM Eknath Shinde said to have pushed for another term at the helm of the govt and BJP keen on keeping the post since it secured the highest number of seats in the assembly polls, the delay in electing the legislative party chief only added fodder to speculation on who would take the CM’s chair.
Manisha Chaudhary, BJP MLA from Dahisar, said it was a happy day for her. “Fadnavis was previously the CM. During the Covid pandemic, he proved to be an effective opposition leader, and then became deputy CM and worked with Shinde. We will now win the civic elections, and this will be a triple engine govt,” she said.
OBC leader and MLC Pankaja Munde said they unanimously supported the proposal moved by Chandrakant Patil and Sudhir Mungantiwar to elect Fadnavis as the party leader. “May his leadership prove decisive to fulfil the dreams and aspirations of the people of Maharashtra,” she said.
The party’s national general secretary, Vinod Tawde, in a post, said the people have shown great faith in Mahayuti, and the govt under Devendra Fadnavis will live up to it.
With the largest number of MLAs, the party will find it difficult to accommodate many, given that BJP will have to share cabinet berths with Shiv Sena and NCP. It has, however, not dissuaded many from trying their luck.
Many BJP office bearers and MLAs were speculating about who would be given ministerial posts in the new govt. “There is every likelihood that a number of senior leaders will be replaced with young faces. This is also an attempt to create more leaders in the party,” said an office bearer requesting anonymity.
Another party leader said while the party gave tickets to a number of dynasts, it must now consider those from ordinary backgrounds with no political legacy for cabinet berths. “Ours is a cadre-based party and RSS, too, is not in favour of furthering family dynasts,” he said.
