Is Fadnavis, BJP’s new Vajpayee?

There was a period of time in the recent past when it was unimaginable to think of India without Narendra Modi. Such was the charisma of the Gujarati gentleman that swayed the Indian masses. But the recent elections cut the BJP and of course Modi to size with many Indians feeling that the Prime Minister had gone overboard in comparing himself to a ‘divine messenger’. Modi and Shah had gone to the extent of even ignoring the ‘RSS’, the parent body of the BJP.

Now, when there is a debate about who could possibly succeed Modi as the Prime Minister, the names usually bandied about are those of Nitin Gadkari, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh or Yogi Adityanath. But all of them are now being overshadowed by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis.

Single-handedly, Fadnavis has been instrumental in bringing back the BJP to power again with a magnificent victory. That he worked as Deputy to Eknath Shinde after having served as Chief Minister earlier also showed that he was willing to put aside his ego for the cause of the Party. It is precisely this compatibility of his that BJP has been lacking in its leaders for a long time. Narendra Modi and the rest barring Nitin Gadkari are ‘non-compromise’ types and unwilling to budge beyond a certain point.

In fact, Vajpayee was the only BJP politician who was acceptable across the whole political spectrum and Fadnavis too has a moderate image rarely blurting out any hard-hitting ‘Hindutva’ rhetoric.

In anti-Brahmanical Maharashtra, Fadnavis has managed to emerge as the single strong leader. Should he deliver as the Chief Minister in his new innings, the ‘top post in the nation’ could actually become his in the near future.

By A Sridhar