India, Sept. 10 -- In the shifting sands of Maharashtra politics, one name repeatedly rises to the center-Devendra Fadnavis. He is not just another politician navigating elections, but the man who has over and over again proved that he is the strategist, the mover, the player who cannot be ignored. His journey from Nagpur's youngest mayor to becoming the state's most important political force is not built merely on luck or timing, but on an instinctive ability to read the mood of Maharashtra, to sense when to strike and when to step back.

When the BJP stormed into power in 2014, it was Fadnavis who became the face of that new chapter, the first BJP chief minister of Maharashtra in decades. He carried the weight of development on his shou...