‘Ek Hain To Safe Hain’: Devendra Fadnavis on Mahayuti sweep in Maharashtra

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday reiterated the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ‘Ek Hain to Safe Hai’ slogan as the Mahayuti alliance inched closer to a sweep in the Maharashtra assembly elections. “Ek Hain To Safe Hain. Modi Hai To Mumkin Hai,” Fadnavis posted in Hindi on X. As at 12:45pm, data made available on the EC website showed the BJP leading on 125 seats, the Shiv Sena on 55 and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP on 38, all part of the ruling Mahayuti.Maharashtra assembly election results LIVE updatesDevendra Fadnavis, 54, is currently leading from Nagpur South West constituency, by more than 19,000 votes, the latest data from EC website said. Union home minister Amit Shah called up CM Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to congratulate them.
The assembly election result is a good news for Fadnavis, who had offered to resign as deputy chief minister after the BJP’s disappointing performance in the Lok Sabha elections. 
Fadnavis, who earned the distinction of becoming the youngest mayor of Nagpur, was picked as the chief minister after the BJP emerged as the single-largest party by winning 122 seats. The 2019 assembly elections marked a dramatic shift in Fadnavis’ political trajectory. The Shiv Sena’s refusal to join the government unless it shared the Chief Minister’s post led Fadnavis to seek an alternative alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar. 
This government, however, was short-lived, collapsing after just 72 hours. Fadnavis then assumed the role of Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly. In June 2022, Eknath Shinde, a minister in Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi, rebelled with 39 other MLAs, reducing the government to a minority. Thackeray resigned before the floor test, resulting in the collapse of the MVA government. 
Fadnavis was instructed by the BJP leadership to return to the government as Deputy CM under Shinde. 
Although initially reluctant, Fadnavis accepted the role, signalling his loyalty to the party leadership.