Devendra Fadnavis is one of those rare political figures who can’t be written off, no matter how many times people think he’s done. From his early days in Nagpur to becoming Maharashtra’s Chief Minister not once, but three times, his journey is nothing short of extraordinary.
Born in 1970, Devendra Fadnavis was practically born into politics, with his father, Gangadharrao Fadnavis, being an influential figure in the Maharashtra Legislative Council. But Devendra Fadnavis wasn’t someone who relied solely on his family name.
At 19, he joined the ABVP and quickly made a name for himself, becoming the youngest councilor in Nagpur in 1992. By 1997, he was not only the youngest mayor of Nagpur but also the second youngest in the entire country. A rising star, no doubt.
His political journey didn’t stop there. By 1999, Fadnavis had secured his first MLA seat from Nagpur South West. It wasn’t a fluke either—he went on to win the seat five times, establishing himself as a dominant force in the region.
But 2014 was when things really took off. He became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, a position that had never been held by the BJP before. He became the first BJP CM to complete a full five-year term in 47 years.
But the twists in Fadnavis’s story don’t end with a single term as CM. In 2019, after a nail-biting series of events, he was sworn in for a second term, only to have the alliance with Ajit Pawar collapse within 80 hours. That could have been a fatal blow to most politicians, but not to Fadnavis. His ability to stay focused, recover quickly, and re-strategize was his real strength.
In 2022, he returned to power, this time as Deputy CM in the Eknath Shinde-led government. And just when everyone thought they had figured him out, he pulled off the unthinkable again in 2024, reclaiming the CM post for the third time in a political comeback that had everyone talking
