Devendra Fadnavis’ ‘Mi Punha Yenaar’ hoardings spark CM speculation in Nagpur | File Photo
Nagpur: Even as Maharashtra waited with bated breath for the tenth day to hear officially the name of the next Chief minister, the three main players Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar prolonged the suspense drama.
But in Fadnavis’ home turf of Nagpur people were greeted on Monday morning with hoardings that were put up overnight. The billboards at vantage points in city squares added to the mystery as they hid more than they revealed.
The hoardings did proclaim “Mi punha yenaar’ (I will come back) but had a faceless picture of a person’s back that is presumably Fadnavis. The message was loud and clear that it would be Fadnavis as the new CM as the “Mi Parat Yenar” slogan is closely associated with him for he uttered it in 2019 elections and was much ridiculed when he could not form the government following betrayal of pre-poll ally Uddhav Thackeray of the united Shiv Sena.
Devendra Fadnavis’ ‘Mi Punha Yenaar’ hoardings spark CM speculation in Nagpur | File Photo
The billboard at the busy Shankar Nagar Square in west Nagpur carried a verse headlined “Wapas Ana Padta Hai.,” (in Hindi, saying one has to return) to complete the unfulfilled task.
Meanwhile there is a strong speculation that the much delay caused in announcement of Fadnavis’ name as CM was done very much at his behest as his astrologer had advised him to bid time time Dec 2 for an auspicious moment. There is a story going round that there is absolute unanimity in NDA leadership and also among Mahayuti protagonists on Fadnavis’ name but were waiting for the best planetary conjunction to make the official announcement. The astrologer is said to have pointed out that”Amavasya” on Dec 1 was to be avoided and only after that any move be started to anoint Fadnavis in the top seat.
That is the reason even the formality of electing the BJP legislative party leader was not initiated before Dec 2 when the BJP central leadership decided to send two observers ex-CM of Gujarat Vijay Rupani and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Mumbai.
They will now call for the meeting of all newly elected BJP MLAs who will then formally vote in favour of Fadnavis to be appointed as new leader of the party legislative wing, a step required before he stakes claim before the Governor for forming the government.
