According to a popular anecdote, in 2019 when the Shiv Sena decided not to form the government with the BJP in Maharashtra, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar reached out to Prime Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi and offered the party’s support in the state. However, Pawar had insisted that PM Modi keep one BJP leader out of the picture in Maharashtra — Devendra Fadnavis. PM Modi politely refused.
When Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde recently brought the Uddhav Thackeray-led post-poll alliance between Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress down, the BJP made Fadnavis deputy chief minister of the state.
Devendra Fadnavis has emerged as the force to reckon with in Maharashtra politics over the past few years. Hailing from Nagpur, Fadnavis served as the 18th chief minister of the state from 2014 to 2019 and was the first CM from the BJP.
Also read: Key political developments in Maharashtra with Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government
On his 52nd birthday today, July 22, here’s a look at 10 lesser-known facts about the Maharashtra deputy chief minister
1. As a child, Devendra Fadnavis refused to study at the local Indira Convent school as his father Gangadhar Fadnavis was jailed when Indira Gandhi declared an Emergency in India between 1975 and 1977. Instead, Devendra Fadnavis enrolled at the RSS-run Saraswati Vidyalaya, from where he did most of his schooling.
2. Fadnavis has a diverse educational background. He holds a five-year law degree from the Law College Nagpur. He is also a post-graduate in business management and holds a diploma in project management from DSE Berlin.
3. Fadnavis has presented papers on disaster management and energy security at international forums in China, Switzerland and the United States.
4. He became the corporator of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation at age 21 and served two consecutive terms.
5. At age 27, Fadnavis became the youngest mayor of Nagpur in 1997 and the second-youngest mayor in India. He is the only person to be re-elected to the post of ‘mayor in council.’
6. After Sharad Pawar, Devendra Fadnavis was the second-youngest chief minister of Maharashtra. When he took oath as CM of Maharashtra on October 31, 2014, Fadnavis was 44 years old. Pawar was the youngest CM of the state at 38.
7. In 2006, Fadnavis worked as a model for a garment shop in Nagpur. The ad campaign was a major hit. The deputy CM’s childhood friend and photographer Vivek Ranade had encouraged him to pursue modelling.
8. In 2002-03, Fadnavis won the Best Parliamentarian Award from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
9. In 2016, he won the coveted Nag Bhushan award for his contribution to the cause of Vidarbha.
10. Devendra Fadnavis and his wife Amruta featured in a T-series music video titled ‘Mumbai River Anthem.’
