Nitin Gadkari out, Devendra Fadnavis in: How Maharashtra leaders are reading the Delhi signals | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
Apart from Gadkari's tension with top leadership, and the need to keep Fadnavis happy, there may be a third layer: their old rivalry
Changes at the top in the central BJP organisation, including the removal of Nitin Gadkari and the inclusion of Devendra Fadnavis, have sent ripples of speculation in the Maharashtra unit of the party.
While no one is willing to come on record on the matter, leaders are reading several messages in this particular shuffle. If Gadkari’s exit from the highest decision-making body of the BJP comes close on the heels of his statements seen as directed at the high command, with whom he has always had a strained relationship, Fadnavis’s promotion comes after he was virtually snubbed and kept out of the Chief Minister’s post, which he felt he had earned.
There is a third message, feel party leaders. In Maharashtra, Gadkari and Fadnavis – who have shared roots in both the RSS and Nagpur – are seen as old rivals. The elevation of Fadnavis at the same time as Gadkari’s removal, after eight years in the BJP parliamentary board, is not coincidental, some leaders say.
Asked about the changes, a senior BJP general secretary said there was no point to the speculation. “The central leadership has its own reasons for giving or taking away responsibilities from individuals in the party and government.”
A former BJP president seen to enjoy RSS backing, Gadkari was once considered among the top rung in the party despite being outside the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah circle. While he has seen his stars dip, relegated to the relatively less significant Union Ministry for Roads and Transport, Gadkari has not been afraid to speak his mind. Meanwhile, his reputation as among the best-performing ministers means the Modi government can’t ignore him either. He has often insisted that he himself sought the Roads and Transport portfolio.
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