The ruthless Mr Fadnavis

The Maharashtra CM played his cards smartly ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

Maharashtra goes to polls on Monday, and the BJP looks like it is set for a comfortable win. While Devendra Fadnavis is the only chief minister of the state to have completed an entire term in 40 years, Huffpost India's Pavan Dahat writes that in the last five year, Fadnavis has played his political game well. Meanwhile, Betwa Sharma reports from Kargil on how Article 370 and the lockdown in the Kashmir has mean huge losses for apricot farmers in the state. And a new study has found that prejudiced and ideologically motivated users may be causing WhatsApp's fake problem. How Devendra Fadnavis Cut Down Rivals, Weakened Allies To Dominate Maharashtra Politics When Devendra Fadnavis took office in 2014, he was not a well-known figure outside his home state. Five years later, the 49-year-old has cut to size any potential rival who could have threatened his dominance within the BJP; weakened ally Shiv Sena’s bargaining power; hit opposition parties where it hurts by luring across influential leaders; reportedly fostered a media cabal more loyal than any chief minister could boast of earlier; and most importantly, despite being from a socially dominant but politically non-significant caste, managed to stay in the good books of both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.  Read More Kashmir: Kargil’s Apricot Farmers Are Staring At A ‘Total Loss’ After Article 370 “What message do I have for Prime Minister Narendra Modi? Nothing. We have received his message loud and clear for the past 72 days,” said the 61-year-old apricot farmer from Hardass village in Ladakh’s Kargil district, earlier this week. Ahmed is angry because he had no chance of selling any of the dried apricots—the main source of his livelihood—after the Narendra Modi government unexpectedly revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) special constitutional status on 5 August. Read More In more news... A New Study Tells You How Fake News Is Spread On WhatsApp Why You Need To Watch This Docu On A 9-Year-Old Skateboarder From Tamil Nadu Vijay's 'Bigil' Runs Into More Trouble With Accusation Of Copyright Infringement New to this email? You can sign up here. ‌ You can also follow HuffPost India on Flipboard. ‌ ©2019 HuffPost lndia | Level 3B, DLF Centre, Sansad Marg, Connaught Place, New Delhi - 110001, India You are recieving this email becuase you signed up for updates from HuffPost India.  ‌ Feedback | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe