Devendra Fadnavis birthday: All you need to know about the BJP leader

Pic/PTI

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will be celebrating his 53rd birthday on July 22. He has been a notable figure from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who has played a significant role in Maharashtra's political landscape. Known for his strong leadership and effective governance, Devendra Fadnavis served as the Maharashtra Chief Minister from 2014 to 2019 and was the first CM from the BJP.

At 44, Devendra Fadnavis is the second youngest chief minister of Maharashtra. The youngest was Sharad Pawar; he was 38 when he took over as chief minister in 1978.

On his website, Devendra Fadnavis describes himself as a "Chief Political Officer (CPO)." His opening words there - "Politics to me is an instrument to bring socio-economic change in the lives of people."

Born on July 22, 1970, in Nagpur, Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis hails from a politically active family. He holds a law degree from Law College, Nagpur, and has a postgraduate diploma in Business Management and a diploma in Project Management from the DSE Foundation in Germany. He started his political career at a young age and quickly worked his way up through the ranks of the BJP, serving in various roles within the party, including the president of the Maharashtra BJP from 2013 to 2014.

His political career began at a very young age, in 1992. He was elected as the Councilor at Nagpur Municipal Corporation and served two consecutive terms. He has the distinction of being the second youngest Mayor in India. He has been the youngest Mayor of Nagpur and has been the only person to be reelected to the position of ‘Mayor in Council'. Fadnavis has been the Mayor of Nagpur twice. Thereafter he has been elected as the MLA - Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for five consecutive terms. At 29, he won his first Assembly election in 1999. Devendra Fadnavis represents the Nagpur South West constituency.

In October 2014, Fadnavis became the 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra, leading the first BJP-led government in the state. As Chief Minister, he focused on addressing key issues such as agriculture, infrastructure, urban development, and social welfare.

After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Fadnavis served as the Leader of the Opposition in the state legislature, continuing to play a vital role in Maharashtra's politics.

In 2013, the BJP leadership appointed Fadnavis as the Maharashtra party president in the run-up to the 2014 elections. Under Fadnavis' leadership, the BJP had won 133 of the state Assembly's total 288 seats even though it had then fought the polls alone since its alliance with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had broken following their differences on the seat-sharing formula. This was the BJP's highest tally in the Assembly following which the BJP declared Fadnavis as the party's CM face. Soon afterwards, the Shiv Sena returned to join the BJP-led ruling alliance under CM Fadnavis that continued till 2019.