Fadnavis returns as Maharashtra CM but with huge challenges and two tricky allies

MUMBAI: As chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis faces a daunting balancing act: reconciling the lofty promises made during the election campaign with mounting debt and escalating expenditure driven by a series of populist schemes rolled out by his previous regime.

With a strong mandate in favour of the Mahayuti alliance, expectations from the government are sky high. Not only will Fadnavis have promises to keep – promises that will further deplete the treasury – he is also expected to find a solution to major challenges such as unemployment and agricultural distress. More importantly, he will have to run the government skillfully with an unhappy Eknath Shinde and an ambitious Ajit Pawar as his deputies.

When he took over as chief minister for the first time in 2014, Fadnavis had no experience in handling the state administration. He had never been so much as a minister before that. However, Fadnavis proved his mettle by running the government effectively for five years and taking several key decisions.

In his third term (his second term lasted only 80 hours), Fadnavis is seizing the reins when the debt on the exchequer has hit an alarming ₹7.82 lakh crore. Various populist decisions taken by the Mahayuti government has put an additional burden of over ₹90,000 crore on the government. Further, promises made by the ruling alliance – from increasing the cash handout under the Ladki Bahin Yojna, to setting up welfare boards for several castes, to loan waiver to farmers – could entail a recurring expenditure of ₹2 lakh crore.

With limited resources and the administration wanting to reduce the number of beneficiaries of populist schemes, Fadnavis will have to juggle administrative and political responsibilities.

As chief minister, he will also have to find a solution to the demand for Maratha reservations. Although the Mahayuti alliance registered a landslide victory despite unhappiness among Marathas and some other castes, the new government cannot afford to ignore their demands.

As if these challenges were not enough, Fadnavis will have to run the government along with two ambitious allies – Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, who is not happy at having to concede the top job, and NCP chief Ajit Pawar, who is growing increasingly ambitious, following in the footsteps of his uncle, Sharad Pawar.

From the appointment of key bureaucrats to the allocation of departments held by them, the two allies extract their pound of flesh. Local body elections, which have been pending for a long time, could prove tricky as all three allies will try to win a mandate in the maximum number of bodies.

“Mahayuti made many promises to the people during the election campaign. Now, Fadnavis will have to fulfill them, a tough challenge considering the precarious financial situation of the state. Making a slew of announcements is one thing but making them a reality with the given budgetary allocation will be difficult,” said Padmabhushan Deshpande, a city-based political analyst. “His political skills will also be put to the test while running the government with two tricky allies. Local body elections will be the first test of this,” he added.

Addressing BJP MLAs after he was elected their leader on Wednesday, Fadnavis made it clear that he was aware of the challenges before him. “In the next five years, we will have to fulfill the expectations from us. We will manage to do a few things the way we want but there will be certain things that will be against our will. But, then, we will have to do it in the larger interests of the party,” he said.

According to the senior BJP leader, “The push and pull between the allies will continue, although Fadnavis will be acting from a position of strength, given the mandate he has received. The BJP has 132 MLAs, which means the party’s reliance on its two allies for a majority is not much. However, there will be a constant tussle as both its allies will try to influence every major decision of the government, and the three allies may try to score over each other.”

Fadnavis’s first term: Major decisions

In his first term as chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis prioritised infrastructure development in Maharashtra, with a focus on Mumbai. Here’s a look at key decisions and projects he initiated.

*Jalyukta Shivar Yojna

An ambitious initiative, it sought to transform agriculture by making water available year round. It aimed to create water bodies across villages to improve the water table. Financial assistance was given to groups of farmers or village councils to build these water bodies that would conserve water. Phase one saw ₹9,500 crore being spent to roll out the scheme in 22,593 villages.

*Mumbai-Nagpur Samrudhhi Mahamarg

This ₹55,000-crore project saw the construction of an expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur, and the development of 18 agricultural townships along the 701-km route. The expressway connects 10 districts directly, and 14 indirectly, boosting their development. The six-lane expressway also halves the travel time between Mumbai and Nagpur, from 14-16 hours. The expressway is largely complete.

*Metro network

Although the metro made its debut to Mumbai during the Congress-NCP rule a decade ago, it was Devendra Fadnavis who worked out a comprehensive plan to build a 300-km network of metro lines in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). A significant part of the project has been completed. Fadnavis pushed the construction of the Metro 3 line (Colaba to SEEPZ), despite protests against the use of Aarey Colony land.

*Maratha reservations and Muslim reservations

Following an agitation by the Maratha community, Fadnavis’s government enacted the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act to provide reservations to the politically influential community. The act was scrapped in 2021, after it failed to stand up to legal scrutiny, on ground that it violated the reservation cap of 50% mandated by the apex court. Fadnavis also decided not to extend reservations to the Muslim community in line with the previous Congress-NCP government.

*Plastic ban and beef ban

In March 2018, Fadnavis’s government decided to ban all kinds of plastic bags across the state. The ban extended to the sale, use, distribution, storing and manufacturing of plastic and thermacol-made items such as disposable containers, plates and cutlery. However, the ban was gradually relaxed on certain items following requests from the plastic industry. In March 2015, the Fadnavis government banned the slaughtering of bulls, bullocks and cows.