Whether it’s ideological opinion or infrastructural projects, the duo have been steering the state ahead in all dimensions.
When friends turn colleagues, the dynamics of work itself changes. What was earlier a challenging job, becomes an achievable goal with concerted efforts and teamwork. As friends sharing power in the political space, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis are strange colleagues.
The political path of both leaders are different. When Devendra Fadnavis was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2014 to 2019, it was an open secret that Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde enjoyed a close rapport with him. When ties between Shiv Sena and BJP remained strained because of the irresponsible articles in Saamana, Eknath Shinde was the go-to-man who CM Devendra Fadnavis trusted to be a sane voice.
When the Uddhav Thackeray- led Shiv Sena backstabbed the people’s verdict in 2019, reports surfaced that Eknath Shinde obstinately refused and had to be placated with a lot of efforts. Eknath Shinde being a man who rose from the Sena rank-and-file, was among the prominent leaders who could have guessed that ditching the Hindutva ideology was not a good idea. As the tide turned in 2022 and Eknath Shinde became the Chief Minister, the two friends, Fadnavis and Shinde came back together.
Their friendship reaped rich dividends instantly as the Samruddhi Mahamarg was fast tracked. Their drive-through in the newly inaugurated highway is etched into the memory of average voters in Maharashtra. Whether it’s ideological opinion or infrastructural projects, the duo have been steering the state ahead in all dimensions.
In the case of Maratha reservation, we saw the policy astuteness of Devendra Fadnavis combined with the empathetic outreach of CM Shinde, ably assuaging the community up in arms. A major flare-up was averted because of their coordinated work towards implementing the caste survey to determine the backwardness of the Maratha community. Sharad Pawar of NCP has been playing the caste card against Devendra Fadnavis ever since the BJP government came into power in 2014.
With Ajit Pawar and most of the NCP MLAs joining the BJP government, the BJP has taken the wind off the sails of Pawar’s strategy. The senior Pawar is now in a dilemma on how to continue with this caste card, when his own family and close aides are on the seat with BJP. When the Shinde-Fadnavis government took oath in 2022, after a dramatic turn of events, the rural masses weren’t sure of what to expect.
Eknath Shinde wasn’t a name which was known across the state; his political career was built in the largely urban area of Thane. But he displayed remarkable humility in restarting the flagship programme, Jalyukt Shivar. As Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis has left a mark across the rural hinterland due to his hugely successful water conservation project. Fadnavis, in the Maharashtra budget added one more feather to his cap when he ensured benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana for just Rs 1.
Unlike other states, where farmers pay a small share of premium, the government of Maharashtra pays up the premium on behalf of the farmers. The friendly relations between the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister ensured that farmers had the best of both worlds—the revived policies of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the fresh initiatives of the Shinde-Fadnavis government.
While the “bromance” between Fadnavis and Shinde continues, there is a stark contrast between their styles of working —while Fadnavis is quick and decisive, always thinking on his feet, Shinde is cautious. Sainiks often used the Marathi word “maval”, or mild to describe Shinde’s style of operation while Fadnavis is all fire and brimstone. When it comes to optics too, Fadnavis is expressive, has great social skills, while Shinde is much more muted. Though the ideologies of the two leaders match, there is a difference in the implementation of the ideology.
Fadnavis is backed by the state first, party next and self last, as strategy. Shinde works on the me and my people first strategy that comes from the inheritance of a family governed party. The precedence in Maharashtra shows Shankarrao Chavan, Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar, Narayan Rane and Ashok Chavan, all Chief Ministers at some point, have performed junior roles in subsequent governments. Fadnavis too accepted the role in much humility.
It has been helped by the ever rising popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, acceptance of the BJP as a stable party, the conducive environment for a double engine sarkar (government) and the immense charm that Fadnavis has among Maharashtra’s bureaucrats. The state bureaucracy feels that if Maharashtra has to compete with a large rising state like Uttar Pradesh, maintain its leadership and still achieve the trillion dollar mark first in the country, the state deserves a corporate- friendly face like Fadnavis.
On the other hand, we have seen an ambitious, hard-working Shinde, who learnt English, completed his degree while in office and also built his own personal brand, both in Maharashtra and Delhi. As of today, this jodi (pair) of Jai-Veeru is here to stay. What keeps them together is their common enemy. Fortunately enough, Gabbar Singh has his hands chopped off like Thakur Sahab, eyes blindfolded like Gandhari and a motormouth Sanjay as his advisor.
But the troubles for Jai and Veeru are not going to end anytime soon because it is the enemy within that needs to be battled first. The coin has been tossed. 2024 will tell where us the coin fell and whether it was Heads or Tails. The only thing certain today is this jodi is going to win and Gabbar will be history.
The Shiv Sena under Eknath Shinde is an asset for the BJP, just like Shiv Sena under Balasaheb Thackeray. There is great unanimity on issues ranging from Ram Mandir to infrastructural development plans. There is the combined force of two Hindutva parties unitedly fighting the Congress.
There is a sense of sacrifice among the cadres of both parties to put the interest of the state over petty political squabbles. In many ways, the friendship between Shinde and Fadnavis is resulting in all round benefits for the state. A united Mahayuti is set to defeat the MVA with 45 seats in the Lok Sabha.
Shweta Shalini is a political commentator.