Nagpur: From bringing to fruition the greenfield Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi expressway, to Jalyukt Shivir for water conservation to bringing remote guerrilla-hit Gadchiroli district into the mainstream, Devendra Fadnavis' first term was a busy one. These five years also saw a metamorphosis of Fadnavis from a greenhorn MLA who always sat in Opposition benches to directly helming the state as CM and emerging as a master-strategist.
Way back in the Nineties, Fadnavis dreamt of a ‘superhighway' to connect Nagpur to Mumbai so that people can reach their state capital faster. Little did he know that as Maharashtra CM, he would propel that dream into reality. Fadnavis spearheaded the push for the Rs 55,000 crore project aggressively, solving all land acquisition disputes smoothly and kicking off construction.
The similarly ambitious Mumbai coastal road plan was approved by the Central govt in 2015, during Fadnavis' tenure. His infra projects have time and again pushed the envelope on what can be achieved despite constraints.
In Nagpur, his hometown, together with Union minister Nitin Gadkari, he aggressively pursued projects like the Metro to ensure timely completion. It was during his first tenure that the Metro train rolled out, less than two years after the ground-breaking ceremony.
Irrigation has always been a major issue in many parts of Maharashtra, and Fadnavis strongly advocated harvesting rainwater at a large scale. For this, Fadnavis pushed through his Jalyukt Shivir, which entailed harvesting rain water falling on hilly terrains through specially dug-up trenches that stored water.
Fadnavis also pushed through the river-linking project, which he called the Water Grid System, to address drought. This project is connecting dams, rivers, tributaries, and villages. This initiative was aimed at addressing drought conditions that had affected nearly 25,000 villages across the state. In Vidarbha, linking of Wainganga-Nalganga rivers is being seen as a major gamechanger in parched districts like Yavatmal.
Fadnavis' pro-development agenda put Gadchiroli on the radar as he pushed for projects which would generate employment for tribals. Mining majors were encouraged to start their projects while the state broke the backbone of guerrillas in the region and combat boots for the first time entered Maoist liberated zones. Here again, Fadnavis showed his acumen by ensuring that the land acquisition process was smooth and did not run into hurdles.
What really shone through in this phase was Fadnavis' emergence as a strategist despite facing hurdles within and outside the party. During his first year as CM, it was natural for party veterans and alliance partners to throw their weight around and try to put him down. Fadnavis deftly handled his detractors, made new friends and halfway into his term emerged as the undisputed boss of Maharashtra.
The 2019 fiasco with Ajit Pawar of early-morning oath ceremony and the 2.5 years out of power, saw Fadnavis fall back to his earlier avatar of a vigilante who exposes corruption. Fadnavis focussed all his energy in exposing alleged scams in MVA rule, before winning over support of Eknath Shinde to form the new govt.