Amruta Fadnavis, Devendra Fadnavis’s wife who was mocked by a Congress leader for her penchant for making reels on Instagram, today had the last laugh.

The BJP, her husband’s party, is back again in Maharashtra, this time with an even bigger mandate. The chatter around who will be Chief Minister centers around Mr Fadnavis, though he says that the Mahayuti alliance partners – Eknath Shinde’s Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party – will sit together and decide this.

“Today’s verdict has been phenomenal. People of Maharashtra have stood by development, have stood by good governance, and you can see the result for the BJP and Mahayuti,” Amruta Fadnavis told NDTV.

Asked if she would like to see her husband back as the chief minister, Ms Fadnavis said,” He (Devendra Fadnavis) has worked hard for this mission and he has given it all for his mission. And I am happy that his people stuck with him in good times and bad because of which we can see such a result. The mission of his life is serving Maharashtra and nation and it will continue irrespective of the position or post which he gets. That decision (of Chief Ministership) will be taken by the party’s parliamentary board.”

Ms Fadnavis – who is a banker, singer, actor – said the biggest anxiety going into the polls was how voting pattern would turn out to be. “We are all relieved. I had sleepless nights over the last 2-3 days. We are very happy. We heaved a sigh of relief. Regarding tomorrow, there’s no pressure,” she said.

Pressed to answer if she expected such a big win, Ms Fadnavis said, “Possibility cannot be ruled out. On the higher side, we did expect 120 seats and on the lower side around 100. This has gone beyond expectations. We are very happy about this phenomenal victory. This has shown a new roadmap to Maharashtra.”

“He is happy and meeting people and enjoying his moment at this point in time,” said Ms Fadnavis explaining how Mr Fadnavis is taking the results.  

The BJP leader’s wife credited women-centric policies of the Mahayuti for the huge result.

“Mahayuti has  worked for women in terms of policies and supporting women. BJP has many pro-women yojanas. Women had to support BJP. Bill for women in parliament was introduced by the BJP. With the way they (BJP) support women, they (people) will naturally love this party and support this party,” she said, adding that people have “voted for development, for Modiji’s good governance and for Maharashtra’s prosperity”.

The BJP look a beating in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Of the 48 seats in the state, the BJP managed to win a just 9. Five months later, things have changed dramatically.

“False narratives which were thrown by the Opposition in the Lok Sabha polls have been cleared out. It is a result of joint effort by the party, the cadre, by the leaders which has shown these phenomenal results,” said Ms Fadnavis, underscoring that every karyakarta went to the grassroots and worked hard every single day, including her husband “Devendraji”.

Ms Fadnavis, obviously, singled out her husband of the big effort.

“I am proud of the way he worked all through these days. How party karyakartas worked through these days and joined him for his Mission Maharashtra, which he accomplished today. No words to express my happiness,” she said.

Mumbai:

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has hit out at Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar for comments critical of his wife, Amruta Fadnavis, accusing his political opponent of personal attacks because they know they cannot win next week’s Assembly election. He also declared the trolls ought to be ashamed of their actions and “drown in water” for derogatory comments against his wife.

Mr Fadnavis said his political opponents – referring to the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of the Congress and the Shiv Sena and NCP factions led by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, respectively – were targeting his wife since they could find no fault in the ruling Mahayuti of the BJP and Sena and NCP groups led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy, Ajit Pawar.

“If a civilized person saw (comments) trolls made against my wife they would be embarrassed. I told my wife… we are in politics and have to be patient, and that truth can be troubled but not defeated,” Mr Fadnavis told news agency ANI.

“The way they behaved and made memes about my wife and wrote bad things about her… they should drown in water. If you want to fight, come and fight face-to-face. What is this kind of war you are fighting? But I am very patient… I understand their fight and I will defeat them,’ he vowed.

On Thursday Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar sparked controversy after remarks targeting Amruta Fadnavis; he dismissed the Deputy Chief Minister’s wife for making reels on Instagram.

“It can’t be that the responsibility of saving religion is ours, while the Deputy Chief Minister’s wife is making reels on Instagram. Everyone must save the religion together,” he said in Nagpur.

READ | Kanhaiya Kumar Instagram Remark Against Amruta Fadnavis Sparks Row

The comments were seen as a response to Mr Fadnavis’ recent appeal for a ‘dharamyuddh‘ to counter what he termed as ‘vote jihad’. Mr Kanhaiya’s jibe was swiftly condemned by the BJP, for whom spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla called the comments an affront to Marathi women.

“Amruta Fadnavis’ insult is an insult to every Marathi woman,” he wrote on X.

Next week’s Maharashtra election – the last high-profile poll this year – will see the ruling MVA go up against the MVA, which has the upper hand after a strong show in the Lok Sabha election; the Congress-Sena-NCP alliance won 30 of the state’s 48 parliamentary constituencies.

The 2019 state election saw the BJP and (then undivided) Sena dominate, winning 161 of 288 seats only to falter at the final hurdle – power-sharing. Uddhav Thackeray then led the Sena into an alliance with the Congress and NCP, but less than three years into his term, Eknath Shinde led a civil war that broke the party in half and re-allied with the BJP to bring it back into power.

With input from agencies

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