Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra CM, is guest at Express Adda today
JUST OVER six months ago, after significant losses in the 2024 general elections, he became the architect of a remarkable victory in the Maharashtra Assembly polls that saw the BJP and its allies cross the two-third mark and the BJP secure close to a majority on its own.
Key to BJP's strategy of wresting power from the Maha Vikas Aghadi in June 2022, Devendra Fadnavis has over the past 35 months seen through the strengthening of the BJP and progression and completion of largescale infrastructure projects that began during his first term as Chief Minister, in Mumbai as well as rest of Maharashtra.
From Atal Setu, the 21-km-long sea bridge connecting South Mumbai to Navi Mumbai, to the coastal road connecting Marine Drive with Sea-Link and the Samruddhi Mahamarg expressway — Chief Minister Fadnavis's vision is marked by his mission to transform Maharashtra so that it plays a crucial role in Viksit Bharat 2047.
Fadnavis will be the guest at Express Adda in Mumbai on Wednesday. He will be in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, and Vandita Mishra, National Opinion Editor, The Indian Express.
In this polarised polity, Fadnavis is among the few at the top who can reach across the aisle — a skill that has also ensured stability in his alliance. Just a month after forming the new government, he signed a record number of MoUs for investment worth over Rs 15 lakh crore in the state at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January this year.
With an illustratious political career spanning over 25 years, Fadnavis started as a corporator of Nagpur Municipal Corporation. He rose to become the country's second youngest mayor.
Elected as an MLA for five consecutive terms since 1999, Fadnavis with his oratory skills always stood apart as a politician. In April 2013, he took over as the state BJP president and led the party to victory in the 2014 Assembly polls after which he became the Chief Minister for the first time. He completed the full five-year term in office.
The 2019 post-polls developments were a body blow to Fadnavis as BJP ally Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray joined hands with the Congress and NCP to form the government. In 2022, he returned to power, although as the Deputy Chief Minister in the Eknath Shinde government.
The 2024 Lok Sabha polls was a major jolt to the BJP, which won just nine of the 28 seats it contested. As questions were raised on his leadership, Fadnavis again bounced back, turning the party's fortunes within six months in the Assembly elections. Since he took oath as the Chief Minister on December 5, 2024, he has initiated a slew of reforms and policy initiatives to bring greater accountability and transparency in administration.
The Express Adda is a series of informal interactions organised by The Indian Express Group and features those at the centre of change. Previous guests at the Adda include Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, philanthropist Bill Gates, actors Pankaj Tripathi and Tabu, oncologist and writer Siddhartha Mukherjee, musician T M Krishna, ecologist Romulus Whitaker and writer William Dalrymple.
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