5 challenges for Devendra Fadnavis as he returns as Maharashtra chief minister

After 11 days of tiresome deliberation, Devendra Fadnavis has lastly taken oath as the following chief minister of Maharashtra on Thursday. The Mahayuti reached a breakthrough in choosing the chief minister’s face on Wednesday, only a day earlier than the swearing-in ceremony. Weeks of drama culminated in Fadnavis securing the highest submit with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as his deputies.

In his third time period as chief minister, Fadnavis has to fill Shinde’s sneakers as the favored chief among the many individuals of Maharashtra. The Bharatiya Janata Celebration, which holds the lion’s share of seats within the Mahayuti alliance, has put lots of religion in Fadnavis to steer the state, particularly after the get together’s poor present in the course of the Lok Sabha elections. The incoming chief minister, nonetheless, has confirmed his price after his first time period however this time it’s going to be completely different and Fadnavis himself realises it.

Talking after being unanimously elected because the chief minister, Fadnavis mentioned, “Our duty has elevated. We have to work more durable. The wrestle forward is about assembly the expectations individuals have from us. We should work in tandem with our allies to realize this.”

The Mahayuti gained a powerful victory within the Maharashtra Meeting elections however with this success has come a flurry of obligations and expectations from the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP coalition. Listed here are 5 of them:

• Shinde could have accepted the submit of deputy chief minister however he did so reluctantly. He primarily switched posts with Fadnavis, an inevitable end result after the BJP gained 132 out of 288 Meeting seats. When Shinde left Uddhav’s Sena in 2022 to affix the BJP, the latter had no selection however to maintain him within the CM’s chair. Though it appears he wouldn’t brew hassle for the alliance within the preliminary few months, Shinde nonetheless holds floor within the bloc as Shiv Sena is the second-largest get together within the Meeting

• Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony will solely see Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar taking oath because the chief minister and deputy chief ministers respectively. The Cupboard growth would happen later because it requires extra deliberation. Whereas Mahayuti has handed the primary hurdle in authorities formation, there’s one other downside which may delay the method however the clock is ticking because the winter meeting session nears. The alliance is but to be on the identical web page about portfolio allocation with Shinde and Pawar demanding plum ministries. Shinde is eyeing to retain the City Improvement and Maharashtra State Highway Improvement Company (MSRDC) ministries and is pushing for different portfolios together with income, agriculture, well being, rural improvement, trade, and social justice. In the meantime, Pawar appears to be content material together with his deputy chief minister submit however desires the finance ministry for himself

• After profitable the state elections, Fadnavis’ authorities has to schedule the already-delayed Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC) polls as civic affairs in Mumbai come to a head. The time period of the earlier administration, which has Shiv Sena on the helm, led to 2022. The elections had been deferred after the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena and BJP got here to energy and determined to revise BMC’s delimitation. Since then, the civic physique has been fraught with corruption allegations, near-breakdown of important providers, and so forth. Final week, Sena MPs mentioned the BMC polls with Amit Shah in a gathering

• It comes as no shock that the Ladki Bahin scheme was a serious driving power in Mahayuti’s win, but it surely got here at a value. Fadnavis is now looking at a debt burden of over Rs 90,000 crore. Curiosity funds on the debt alone are 40 per cent of Maharashtra’s income. The brand new chief minister doesn’t solely must handle the disaster but in addition fulfil Mahayuti’s promise to extend the monetary assist beneath the scheme from Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,100 monthly

• Maharashtra is the third-largest state in India and Fadnavis has the mammoth job of placing it again on the expansion monitor. The Mahayuti alliance beneath Fadnavis has to deal with different points like regional disparities, probably the most essential of them being the case of the Maratha reservation. He additionally has to deal with the unemployment downside in each city and rural areas