Devendra Fadnavis for BJP national chief?

DCM Devendra Fadnavis and his family with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi

Political corridors are abuzz with talk of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) getting a new national president soon, and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis is one of the prospective candidates for the top position.

Speculations have been rife ever since Fadnavis met Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently in Delhi where he attended the party Chief Minister's conclave. Though he is DCM, the party sat him in the first row with the PM and senior CMs, underlining his position. The party's current president J P Nadda, who also serves as a Union Cabinet minister, may have to vacate his organisational office soon.

The buzz also says that Fadnavis may begin as an executive president before getting elevated to the highest organisational position. However, with no confirmation whatsoever from the party, it is still unknown whether the appointment of Fadnavis, if any, would come before or after the October Assembly elections for which the DCM has been leading the party's charge. The BJP is preparing to contest in pre-poll alliance with its ruling partners, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP (AP).

Speculators further said that BJP's ideological fountainhead, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was in favour of Fadnavis. Nearly a dozen years ago, Nitin Gadkari, another senior leader from Nagpur, where the RSS headquarters is based, worked as the national president.

The buzz has come when Opposition parties, his detractors within BJP and Maratha quota activists like Manoj Jarange have attempted to corner Fadnavis ahead of the Assembly elections. No wonder, having heard of the possibility of Fadnavis's exit from state politics, people in the BJP and outside it have begun discussing his replacement.

One of the choices is Vinod Tawde, the party's national general secretary, who incidentally is also being talked about as one of the candidates for the national president. Then, there are others down the line, including Fadnavis's state cabinet colleagues. However, party insiders said the real tussle will be for the CM's position if the BJP gets the numbers to claim the position.

288
No of seats in state Assembly