We use cookies and other tracking technologies to provide services in line with the preferences you reveal while browsing the Website to show personalize content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audience is coming from in order to improve your browsing experience on our Website. By continuing to browse this Website, you consent to the use of these cookies. If you wish to object such processing, please read the instructions described in our Cookie Policy / Privacy Policy.

Interested in blogging for timesofindia.com? We will be happy to have you on board as a blogger, if you have the knack for writing. Just drop in a mail at toiblogs@timesinternet.in with a brief bio and we will get in touch with you.

TOI Quick Edits are written by a team of seasoned journalists from the Times of India's Edit Page and TOI-Online who respond to important news stories as they develop. The team comprises senior journalists with wide-ranging interests who debate and opine on the news and issues of the day. LESS ... MORE

In a society acutely conscious of hierarchies and optics that go with it, there’s an unusual phenomenon recurring in Indian politics. Devendra Fadnavis became the third politician from Maharashtra in the last 25 years to settle for a lesser post after having been chief minister.

In the preceding MVA government, Ashok Chavan was a cabinet minister in charge of public works. Between December 2008 and November 2010, he was chief minister of the Congress-NCP coalition government. His father Shankarrao Chavan too agreed to become a minister in a Maharashtra government a few years after he had been chief minister.

Another Congress chief minister who agreed to a junior role after having been chief minister of Maharashtra was Shivaji Patil Nilangekar.

Narayan Rane became chief minister in 1999 when the Shiv Sena-BJP came to power for the first time in Maharashtra. He subsequently quit the Shiv Sena and joined Congress. Later he became a minister in the Congress-NCP coalition in Maharashtra between 2010 and 2014. Currently, he is a BJP parliamentarian who is the union minister for micro, small and medium enterprises.

This phenomenon is not confined to Maharashtra. In Tamil Nadu. O. Panneerselvam was former AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha ‘s preferred stand-in as chief minister. After her death, he was once again CM for a short while and subsequently settled for the slot of deputy chief minister.

These examples may not be enough to conclude that Indian politicians are willing to suppress their ego and contribute in any capacity after they have reached the pinnacle of power in the political executive, but if it becomes more widespread it won’t be a bad thing as there’s no academic or professional qualification which can surpass experience in the difficult art of making choices when faced with messy tradeoffs.

Read also: Maharashtra twist – BJP anoints Eknath Shinde CM, makes Devendra Fadnavis his deputy

{{{short}}} {{#more}} {{{long}}} ... Read More {{/more}}

Fear of losing power haunts Uddhav Thackeray

While India is busy burning trains and buses over army recruitment scheme, China quietly rolls out a new aircraft carrier that wows west

India needs Agnipath, not pensionpath

Murmu & BJP’s subalterns: It’s not the Adivasi vote, which BJP already gets, but the party’s larger political narrative around the marginalised that explains its choice of presidential candidate

Being truly presidential: 21st-century India needs a president who will be democracy’s conscience keeper

Act of terrorism: Horrific Udaipur incident must lead to thorough investigation to see if there’s a bigger pattern

Flaming question: Why is it so easy to burn trains? Because effective RPF, local police coordination is missing

Jawed Habib writes: Hair care tips after colouring

American tragedy: Scary lesson: Women’s rights can disappear suddenly

The hymen: A marker of virginity?

Interested in blogging for timesofindia.com? We will be happy to have you on board as a blogger, if you have the knack for writing. Just drop in a mail at toiblogs@timesinternet.in with a brief bio and we will get in touch with you.

Ruminations,TOI News,Tracking Indian Communities

Copyright © 2022 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service