New Chief Minister brings with him new hope

Soon after Mr Devendra Fadnavis takes oath as Chief Minister of Maharashtra today, he has to hit the ground running. He has many challenges to face and also opportunities to deliver on. His astuteness will lie in not allowing the former to come in the way of the latter, while at the same time ensuring that obstacles are tackled to the advantage of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Government he leads. The last thing he can afford at this stage is needless friction. Given that he enjoys cordial relations with politicians across the spectrum, is non-controversial and has the ability to take everyone along, Mr Fadnavis should be able to sail through any immediate turbulence that he may face. Of course, the fact that the Nationalist Congress Party has extended outside support and the Shiv Sena will in probability sooner or later come on board, makes his immediate task easier. Yet, he will have to engage in political balancing if and when the Shiv Sena does come around to joining the Government.

The BJP has made it clear that the Shiv Sena cannot place conditions. Since this is not a situation the Shiv Sena has been used to in Maharashtra, it is likely that Mr Fadnavis will face pulls and pressures, subtle if not overt, from its one-time State ally. How he emerges from the challenge, remains to be seen. Also, while the NCP's outside support certainly gave precious leverage to the BJP to counter the Shiv Sena's belligerence soon after the Assembly result was declared, it also meant that Mr Fadnavis and his team have to tread carefully on the many cases of irregularity that certain senior NCP leaders are allegedly involved in. Of course, if and when the Shiv Sena joins the Government, then Mr Fadnavis will have a majority Government and will be relatively freer to proceed on those cases. Regardless, one thing is evident: His Government is not going to launch a witch-hunt, but will essentially concentrate on getting governance back on track and tackle the development agenda which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid out for the country. Mr Fadnavis has already said that his priority will be to take forward the Prime Minister's ambitious programmes. His lack of administrative experience need not be held against him, because he comes into the job without any baggage.

In the past decade and more, the Congress-led coalition regimes in the State messed up governance. Chief Ministers were changed frequently when they came under one taint or the other; irregularities and open corruption became the norm of the day; and a State that was once the flag-bearer of economic development, slipped into inertia. Relations between the Congress and its then partner, the NCP, came under severe strain, leading to a virtual halt in decision-making. The arrival of Mr Prithviraj Chavan from the Prime Minister's Office as Chief Minister of Maharashtra did not improve matters; in fact, it worsened the situation, since Mr Chavan resorted to indecisiveness as a way to manage political compulsions. Still, he could never win the trust of his ally and even the loyalty of some senior leaders within his party. Both the Congress and the NCP got an indication of the people's disenchantment when they were routed in the lok Sabha election. That was the last straw which broke the alliance’s back.