Fadnavis did his initial schooling at the Indira Convent School in Nagpur. During the1975 Emergency, Fadnavis's father, being a member of theJan Sangh, was imprisoned for participating in anti-government protests. Fadnavis subsequently refused to continue his schooling at Indira Convent, as he did not want to attend a school named afterIndira Gandhi, thePrime Minister he held responsible for imprisoning his father. He was then transferred to the Saraswati Vidyalaya School, Nagpur, where he received most of his schooling.[16][17] Later, Fadnavis attended Dharampeth Junior College[citation needed].
Fadnavis completed hisBachelor of Laws undergraduate degree from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar College of Law,Nagpur University in 1992. He completed his postgraduate degree in Business Management and a diploma in Project Management from DSE,Berlin, Germany.[18]
Fadnavis with daughter Divija and wife Amruta
Fadnavis practices Hinduism.[19] He marriedAmruta Fadnavis, an actress, singer and banker, in 2005.[20] Both of them met at a marriage ceremony of a common friend.[21] After two years of marriage, the couple had a daughter, Divija Fadnavis, in 2007.[22]
Early political career (1989–2014)
Many of Fadnavis's family members have been involved in electoral politics. Both his father, Gangadhar Rao Fadnavis, and aunt,Sobha Fadnavis, were members of theBharatiya Janata Party and served in the state legislature.[23] Fadnavis joined theRSS-affiliatedAkhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in 1989.[24][25][26] Later in the year 1992, he became aCouncillor, representing the Ram Nagar Ward in theNagpur Municipal Corporation.[27] In 1997, at the age of 27, Fadnavis became the youngestmayor of the Nagpur and the second-youngest mayor in the history of India.[28][29] He took the decision to double property tax in Nagpur, raising 35 crore rupees for the municipal corporation.[30] He remained as a Mayor until 1999, and later held a position in the newly createdMayor in Council from 1999 to 2001,[26] after the system was introduced by theMaharashtra government in 1998.[31]
Fadnavis took over as the president of theMaharashtra unit of the BJP in 2013.[32] His appointment to this position has been credited to his closeness with the RSS. According to political commentators, the party appointed him based on advice of the RSS.[33] Fadnavis being one of the youngest BJP state presidents, his appointment was also seen as an attempt by the party to attract youth voters.[34] His appointment was made when tensions between the thendeputy Leader of Opposition in Lok SabhaGopinath Munde and theformer BJP national president Nitin Gadkari were high. His appointment to the position was seen as a mutual compromise byGopinath Munde-led andNitin Gadkari-led factions within the state unit of the party.[35][36]
In the run up to the2014 legislative elections, the BJP and the Shiv Sena severed their ties, and contested the elections separately.[40] The fracture in the alliance resulted from disputes over the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance and the number of constituencies that each parties will contest.[41][42] After the elections, the BJP became the single largest party, while theShiv Sena became the second largest party.
Fadnavis took over as the legislative party leader ofBJP in the state after winning a vote by the newly elected MLAs of the party. Fadnavis was appointed as theChief minister of Maharashtra on 31 October 2014. BJP formed aminority government initially withconfidence and supply from theSharad Pawar-ledNationalist Congress Party.[43][44] The erstwhile alliance partner Shiv Sena chose to stay in opposition, with its legislative party leaderEknath Shinde briefly serving as theleader of the opposition.[45] However, soon after, the Shiv Sena joined the Fadnavis-led government, giving the government a majority.[46] Fadnavis completed his first term for the complete five years, making him only the second person in the state to do so, the other beingVasantrao Naik.[47][48]
During his first term as the chief minister of Maharashtra, Fadnavis oversaw critical infrastructure projects such as the conceptualisation of theMumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway, theMumbai andPune Metro expansions, theCoastal Road project, and theMumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL). He also established a dedicated "War Room" to monitor all the major infrastructure projects in order to address the bottlenecks and ensuring timely completion.[49] In 2019, the government initiated a scheme to set up a water grid project inMarathwada to address the drought situation.[50] The project included a plan for water grid from Israeli partners.[51]
Social policies and issues
TheBombay High Court stayed the reservation decision on the Maratha Reservation Act in 2015. Following this, Fadnavis constituted the Backward Class Commission in 2015, as directed by the High Court to confirm that the Marathas constitute as a backward community.[52]
In the2019 legislative assembly election, theMahayuti alliance, comprisingBJP,Shiv Sena, and other regional parties, contested together. During the campaigns, a chief ministerial candidate from the alliance was not projected. Many Shiv Sena politicians even claimed that the next chief minister will be from their party.[53][54]
After the elections, the Mahayuti secured a majority, with the BJP becoming the single largest party again.[55][56] During the talks of government formation, disagreements surfaced between BJP and Shiv Sea regarding the chief minister position. Shiv Sena, led byUddhav Thackeray, demanded that the chief ministership should be shared between the parties in arotation government arrangement.[57] Politicians from Shiv Sena claimed that decision was made between the top leadership of the two parties where candidates from both the parties will occupy the position of chief minister for 2.5 years each.[58][59] However, this claim was disputed by Fadnavis, and he said that no such promises have been made and he would become the chief minister for 5 years.[60][61] After successive meetings, no consensus was reached, and the alliance between the parties broke.[62][63][64][65] On 8 November 2024, Fadnavis resigned as the chief minister.[66][67]
Following this, the then Maharashtra GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari invited the major parties, including BJP, Shiv Sena, andNCP, to form government. However, due to no consensus being reached,president's rule was imposed in the state on the recommendation of the governor.[68][69]
On 23 November 2019, Fadnavis reached the residence of Governor Koshyar with theNCP leaderAjit Pawar to form their government. Fadnavis was sworn in as the Chief minister, while Pawar was sworn in as theDeputy Chief Minister.[70] However, soon later, NCP chiefSharad Pawar announced that Ajit Pawar's decision to support the BJP was his own and not endorsed by the party.[71] Shiv Sena, NCP, and INC took up this issue in theSupreme Court of India. On 26 November 2019, The court ordered the new government to prove their majority with aFloor test in the legislative assembly.[72] Due to lack of adequate support, on the very same day, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar resigned from their posts of Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister respectively.[73]
During this short period, Fadnavis chaired aclimate resilience meeting with representatives of theWorld Bank, restarted the Chief Minister's refund cell, and sanctioned₹5380crores in aid for farmers.[74] The government lasted for about 80 hours. His second tenure was the shortest tenure for any chief minister of the state since its inception.[47]
Leader of opposition (2019–2022) and deputy chief minister of Maharashtra (2022−2024)
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (2019–2022)
After the second Fadnavis government collapsed, BJP became the main opposition party against the newly appointedMVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray.[47] Being elected as the party leader of BJP in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Fadnavis assumed the role of theLeader of the Opposition.[75]
Fadnavis played a key role in the 2022 political crisis that led to the fall ofUddhav led government and a virtual split inShiv Sena. After a significant amount of Shiv Sena MLAs rebelled against the party leadership, Fadnavis and Union Home ministerAmit Shah met the leader of the rebelsEknath Shinde inVadodara, Gujarat to reportedly plan a merger coalition to topple the Uddhav led government.[76] On 28 June 2022, Fadnavis metGovernor of MaharashtraBhagat Singh Koshyari and demanded a motion of no confidence againstUddhav Thackeray.[77] Fadnavis himself has claimed that he caused the split within the party.[78] On 29 June, Uddhav Thackeray resigned as the Chief Minister while speaking live on social media ahead of theno-confidence motion.
The next day, on 30 June 2022, Fadnavis was sworn in as the ninth Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, with Eknath Shinde as the chief minister.[79][80] During this time, he held key ministries, includingHome Affairs,Law and Judiciary,Water Resources,Command Area Development,Energy, New and Renewable Energy, andProtocol. Initially, before the formation of the government, Fadnavis said in a press conference that he personally will not be a part of the new government, although BJP will join it. According to media reports, Fadnavis was reluctant to become the deputy chief minister.[81] However,BJP national presidentJ. P. Nadda directed Fadnavis to join the government.[82][83][84]
Many political commentators have highlighted the position of deputy chief minister to be a downgrade or demotion for Fadnavis.[85][83] Nevertheless, his role in the government was considered key by political commentators in keeping a check on the Shinde-led Shiv Sena by the top BJP leadership.[86] Fadnavis become the fifth person to become a minister in a state government after serving as the chief minister.[87][88]
Third term as chief minister of Maharashtra (2024-present)
After the2024 legislative elections., BJP once again emerged as the single largest party, securing 132 seats, only short by 13 seats to form a majority government on its own.[89] Other key allies likeShiv Sena andNCP also performed well. Fadnavis was appointed as the Chief Minister of the state for a third time on 5 December 2024, 12 days after the results were announced.[90] BothEknath Shinde andAjit Pawar took oath as the deputy chief ministers.[91]
In April 2016, while addressing a rally inNashik, Fadnavis said that, "Every Indian would have to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and those who refuse to chant the slogan should not live in the country and instead go to Pakistan or China."[100] Critics pointed that this was an attempt at religious polarisation. Fadnavis later issued a clarification that this issue had nothing to do with religion.[101]
Aurangzeb-related remarks in 2023
In June 2023, following the clashes over social media posts glorifying Mughal emperorAurangzeb in Kolhapur, Fadnavis remarked at a public rally that the sympathizers of Aurangzeb are "Aurangzeb Ki Aulad"[102] Several political analysts have criticised Fadnavis'sAurangzeb Ki Aulad (literal translation "Aurangzeb's Children") remark noting that it constituted adog whistle to target Muslims in his state. Several Hindu groups opposed the social media posts resulting in communal clashes.[103] Fadnavis tried to clarify that he did not considerIndian Muslims as Aurangzeb's descendants and that nationalist Muslims do not see Aurangzeb as their hero.[102]
Legal issues and controversies
Non-disclosure of criminal cases in 2014 poll affidavit
In September 2023, a Nagpur court acquitted Fadnavis in a case pertaining to his election affidavit in 2014. A complaint over the non-disclosure of pending FIRs in criminal cases against Fadnavis had been filed by advocate Satish Uke. Uke's contention was that such suppression of information was a violation of the Representation of People's Act. Fadnavis admitted to the non-disclosure during the court proceedings and claimed that it was an inadvertent mistake by his lawyer.[104][105][106]
^"Fadnavis 4th CM from Vidarbha".The Times of India. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 29 October 2014.Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved30 October 2014.
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata
