Revenge served cold: How a two-year-old speech by Devendra Fadnavis has come back to haunt Uddhav Thackeray

With Uddhav Thackeray quitting as the chief minister of Maharashtra after being outnumbered following a rebellion in his own party and knowing that he will not be able to prove majority on the floor of the Assembly, decks are cleared for Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP to return to power after 31 months. 

As Thackeray stepped down on Wednesday night, celebrations galore in the saffron camp as Fadnavis made his way to return as the CM with rebel leader Eknath Shinde as his deputy. 

Fadnavis had resigned as CM on November 26, 2019 barely 80 hours after being sworn in for the second time. He had taken oath on November 23 in a hush-hush morning ceremony with the support of Ajit Pawar, who then headed the 54-member NCP. However, Pawar resigned soon after citing personal reasons. 

The dramatic turn of events eventually paved way for Shiv Sena to form government in alliance with Sharad Pawar-led NCP and the Congress. 

31 months on, when Fadnavis is set to return to power, a couplet which he had recited at the state Assembly’s Special Session called on December 1 after his resignation, is now going viral. 

After Nana Patole was elected as the Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Fadnavis had said — “Mera paani utarta dekh mere kinare par ghar mat basa lena, main samandar hoon wapas lautkar aaunga”. 

The couplet implies that the turn of events were not expected by Fadnavis and that he was upset over giving up the CM post after just three days of being sworn in. He had vowed to make a come back in power, which is evident now when he is believed to have played a pivotal role in the collapse of the coalition alliance. 

Notably, the former CM’s wife Amruta Fadnavis had also tweeted a couplet after her husband quit as the chief minister. “Palat ke aaungi shaakhon pe khushbuyein le kar, khizan ki zad mein hoon mausam zara badalne de,” she had tweeted on November 26, 2019.

The couplet apparently referred to Fadnavis’ exit with his wife exuding confidence that he will make a comeback to the power with the change of time.

Indicating that decks are being cleared for a change of guard after Thackeray’s resignation, the Maharashtra BJP on Wednesday tweeted a video clip of a speech in Marathi by Fadnavis. The accompanying caption, also in in Marathi, read, “I will come again. For the creation of a new Maharashtra!  Jai Maharashtra”.

With the support of 39 rebel MLAs and some Independents and legislators of smaller parties, the BJP — which currently has a strength of 106 MLAs in the House — is in a safe position to stake claim to form government in the state Assembly where the majority mark stands at 144.