Devendra Fadnavis

A modest man with a steely resolve

Devendra Fadnavis

Hailed as the face of the new age Indian politics which is increasingly being driven by accountability and efficiency, Devendra Fadnavis has always been a fast achiever when it comes to winning people’s mandate by delivering tangible results.

Joining politics at an early age, Devendra could translate his youthful energy and vision into people’s trust and love when he became a councillor for the first time. Since then, his graph has been on the upwards, which reflects people’s reckoning of him as a man of work.

His selection as the CM of Maharashtra had a lot to do with his young age, dynamism, and a positive image.

However, defying all speculations about his lack of experience to run the CM office, Devendra proved himself to be a quick learner and an amazing problem solver, setting his course right and applying instinct, pragmatism, and a clear thought process, given his more than 2 decades of experience as public representative.

The results were obvious; we saw him capture increasing hearts and minds remarkably, earning accolades from all quarters. The important takeaways from his regime are:

  • Maharashtra lead the country on many counts with notable achievements,
  • No major scandal or corruption case broke out involving any govt. office.
  • No major law and order problem or terror strike happened in this period.
Devendra Fadnavis

Also, there were some occasions that have witnessed his political acumen and negotiation skill as the CM of the state, for example, thwarting of Dalit and farmer unrests in 2018.

No doubt, as the youngest Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis showed his mettle and proved his ideal Prime Minister Modi right, who chose him for the post of CM over others. But how is he as a person? How was his upbringing? It will be interesting to glimpse into his life to understand him better.

His political alignment with the RSS and later with the BJP came at an early age as a legacy from his father who was an active member of Jan Sangh. So it can be said that traits such as grit, perseverance, and discipline ran in his blood, and he added some of his own – his self-belief and focus – to reach important milestones, rather before usual times; Corporator at 21, Mayor at 26, and CM at 44.

There is a story of his childhood that gives us an insight into his resolute and unwavering ideology: He was then 5 or 6 years old and was studying at a school named Indira convent school. His father was an active member of Jan Sangh, the parent body of the present RSS.

During the emergency, declared by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, his father was arrested and put in jail for participating in an anti-government protest. Devendra refused to go to a school named after Indira Gandhi, who he thought responsible for jailing his father. Ultimately, it was his adamance that saw him change to another school called Saraswati Vidyalaya from where he passed his board exam.

His mother recalled that around that time, young Devendra had begun attending the morning exercises at the Shakha, assembly of activists for drill and exercise. His faith and bond with the nationalistic ideology had only been firmer through his association with the Jan Sangh and RSS. After school when he entered college, he was soon to become a member of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad.

There are some elements in his character that make Devendra forge his way forward to build and maintain relationships even with the opponents/adversaries. For example, Prithviraj Chouhan, the Congress CM whom Devendra actually replaced, was all praise for him.