When Devendra Fadnavis announced that Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde will be the new chief minister of Maharashtra, many were stunned by the political manoeuvre as they expected the 51-year-old BJP leader to occupy the CM's chair for the third time.

Everyone had expected Fadnavis to become the CM again with the Shinde-led group's support. It took a series of missives from top BJP leaders for Fadnavis to change his mind and join the new government, but not as chief minister as many expected.

• Congratulations to the newly appointed Chief Minister of Maharashtra @mieknathshinde G and Deputy Chief Minister @Dev_Fadnavis G for the future. I wish you a good job in Maharashtra!, twets Uddhav

There is no clarity on what led the BJP top brass to ask Fadnavis to join the new ministry minutes after he announced that he will help it from outside. NCP chief Sharad Pawar said Fadnavis has set an example when it comes to obeying the party's directive.

Fadnavis' Mi punha yein (I will come back) remark during the 2019 Assembly election campaign was mocked at by political rivals in the last two and a half years. Fadnavis, who was the first non-Congress leader to complete the five-year term as CM between 2014-19 and also had the shortest tenure of three days as CM in 2019 was all set to return to the top post again, when he declared that Shinde will be the CM instead.

The BJP leader, who will celebrate his 52nd birthday on July 22, has established his credentials as an astute politician, who has hold over the party and state machinery.

He led BJP to major wins in the recent Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council elections in Maharashtra. He also delivered for the BJP at the national level, in Bihar and Goa Assembly polls where he was the party observer. He was also the election in charge for Kerala Assembly polls.

Hailing from a middle-class family in Nagpur, Fadnavis has a degree in law, a post graduate degree in business management and also a diploma in project management. His political career began in 1992 when he was elected corporator in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. He was Nagpur's second youngest mayor, a post he held twice. He has been MLA from Nagpur south west constituency for five consecutive terms.

Under his leadership, Maharashtra BJP grew at the grassroots level, winning rural and urban local bodies. As an MLA, his spirited debates and understanding of fiscal issues were appreciated across party lines.

His three-day government with NCP's Ajit Pawar in November 2019 was the shortest regime in Maharashtra's history.

The mandate of 2019 Assembly polls was for the BJP-Sena alliance but Fadnavis disclosed at a post-results press conference that the Sena was not promised chief minister's post on rotation basis as claimed by it. This enraged Thackeray who called off the alliance and joined hands with Congress and NCP to form the government.