Nitin Gadkari makes new moves to strengthen bid for CM chair

Some nifty wellplanned moves by Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari helped him send out strong signals that senior leaders in the party were backing him to become the chief minister CM of the state over state unit chief Devendra Fadnavis who is being portrayed as the first choiceNitin GadkariGadkari hosted a powerpacked show of strength in Nagpur where not only party MLAs but also prominent people from the party cadre were present The move comes close on the heels of reports that Fadnavis was to be appointed CM by the Centre It was a wellplanned move say BJP leaders Gadkari who was in Mumbai reached Nagpur on Tuesday before the newly elected MLAs from Vidarbha could reach the statersquos winter capitalThere he waited till the plane arrived Gadkari welcomed them before reaching his residence in Mahal area ldquoI wanted to welcome these MLAs as they have won with huge marginrdquo he is reported to have saidAt the Gadkari residence thousands were present at the heavyduty meeting BJP sources claim there were 10000 The crowd comprised people from local and civic bodies and office bearers from the entire regionAfter the Centre had reportedly finalised Devendra Fadnavis as CM Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari made a statement with his show of strength in a Nagpur meeting File picGadkarirsquos pitch for the CMrsquos post began with Sudhir Mungantiwar exBJP state unit chief and Gadkarirsquos close aide Mungantiwar claimed senior leaders want Gadkari as the CM of Maharashtra The statement comes against the backdrop of the CM race where Devendra Fadnavis senior leader Eknath Khadse Mungantiwar himself Vinod Tawde and Pankaja Munde are touted as potential candidatesBorivli MLA Vinod Tawde left and city BJP chief now also Bandra West MLA Ashish Shelar are in support of Gadkarirsquos candidatureKhadse is seeking the post on the basis of his seniority and experience as a former minister and Leader of Opposition in the current assembly Party insiders say the Nagpur show was a calculated move as Mungantiwarrsquos statement believed to have been made at the behest of Gadkari spurred a fresh debate when state unit chief Devendra Fadnavisrsquos name had been finalised by the central leadership for the post of CMIt is a known fact that Fadnavis had replaced Mungantiwar as state BJP chief when Gadkari had backed his proteacutegeacute for a repeat term Then Leader of Opposition in state council Vinod Tawde too jumped the bandwagon saying that not just he but senior leaders of the party also wished for Gadkari to sit on the top chairAlong with him Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar too has joined the chorus From Vidarbha prominent faces which are staunchly backing Gadkari include Sudhakar Deshmukh and Nana Shamkule both MLAs from Nagpur and Chandrapur respectively Slogans extolling Gadkari as CM were also shoutedlsquoUnBJP moversquoA senior party leader eschewed the usage of such pressure tactics saying the BJP is known to be a cadrebased party and never allowed such movesIn fact it is Gadkari himself who had promoted such policies when he pulled down a huge poster in the conference hall in the partyrsquos state headquarters in Mumbai which showed Pramod Mahajan addressing a huge rally Gadkari replaced it with the party symbol depicting three sentences in a row that said lsquoNation first party second me thirdrsquoAnother leader said the show of strength in Nagpur is surprising given that Gadkari maintains a good rapport with senior leaders of the party as well as with the RSS leadership If the Gadkari camp is to be believed they have the support of all of Vidarbharsquos 44 newly elected MLAs but one Devendra Fadnavis himself39 MLAs were present at the Gadkari residence the leader from the Gadkari camp said Also 10 to 15 MLAs from Mumbai Pune and western Maharashtra are close to Gadkari Besides this the senior leader enjoys the backing of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat who is said to be his mentor and had played a crucial role in installing him as the partyrsquos chiefAnother issue that may make choosing a CM even more complex is that Brahmins are getting the top cabinet berths and plum party posts Besides Gadkari IampB Minister Prakash Javadekar is another Brahmin face In the party Vinay Sahasrabuddhe Vijaya Rahatkar Poonam Mahajan are all Brahmins occupying top positions There is a feeling that OBC and other communities are being ignored has been the feeling