MUMBAI: There is speculation that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will be elevated in central BJP politics by being appointed as a member of the BJP’s Parliamentary Board.
The 12-member Parliamentary Board is the highest decision-making and most powerful body of the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, etc. are members of this Parliamentary Board of the BJP. Earlier, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was a member of this board, but later he was relieved from this responsibility.
Presently, there is no single leader from Maharashtra who is part of the BJP’s Parliamentary Board.
Sources in the BJP said that the RSS is keen to elevate Mr Devendra Fadnavis to the Parliamentary Board as a young face for future politics in Delhi.
“BJP national president Nitin Nabin has announced various appointments in the National BJP. After that, there is discussion that the BJP may also carry out changes in its Parliamentary Board by dropping some old faces and giving opportunities to new faces as part of nurturing new leadership for central politics. Presently, no CM of any state has been given a place in the BJP’s Parliamentary Board. Therefore, some of the BJP leaders have reservations and apprehensions over the appointment of Devendra Fadnavis as a member of the Parliamentary Board,” said a senior BJP leader who requested anonymity.
He further added, “If Fadnavis gets a place in the BJP’s Parliamentary Board, then that will clear the path for his entry into national politics. And he will be very much in the race for the Prime Minister’s post as well because, after Nitin Gadkari, Mr Fadnavis, who comes from Nagpur — the RSS headquarters — is the blue-eyed boy of the RSS. The RSS is very interested and keen to project Mr Fadnavis as a future face of the BJP as a development man who can take along the corporate lobby as well as an RSS loyalist and hard-core Hindutva person,” said the person who follows the RSS.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis earlier clarified that he is not interested in going to Delhi as he has been entrusted with Maharashtra’s responsibility. However, Mr Fadnavis recently hosted a dinner for the MahaYuti ministers at his residence, and that again led to speculation that Mr Fadnavis is mentally preparing for a bigger role at the Centre.