Mumbai: Amid friction between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena — especially over the latter’s home turf of Thane — the Shinde-led party Tuesday placed a full front-page advertisement in several newspapers claiming more people wanted to see Shinde as chief minister than the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis.
The advertisement, which had “Modi for India, Shinde for Maharashtra” written in bold letters, also declared Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Shinde to be the “dream team loved by all.”
Citing a Zee News–Matrize survey, the results of which were released Monday, the ad said 26.1 percent of the people of Maharashtra wanted to see Shinde as the CM, while 23.2 percent wanted Fadnavis.
Moreover the advertisement also cited the survey to assert that 30.2 percent of Maharashtra residents preferred the BJP, while 16.2 percent preferred the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
“These numbers show that a total of 46.4 percent people of Maharashtra trust the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena alliance for the development of the state,” the ad said.
The advertisement comes at a time when there have been conflicts between the cadres of the two parties of Maharashtra’s ruling coalition, particularly in Shinde’s stronghold of Thane and his MP son Shrikant Shinde’s constituency of Kalyan.
The coalition government formed by an alliance between the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the BJP will complete a year on 30 June. In the 2014 and 2019 state assembly elections, the BJP’s line for its campaign was ‘Kendrat Narendra, rajyat Devendra.’ (Narendra at the Centre, Devendra in the state).
The advertisement managed to create a debate around its content with sharp reactions from the opposition parties as well as the chief minister.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai Tuesday, Shinde said the people of Maharashtra had shown their approval of both Fadnavis and himself.
“Our government is working under the leadership of PM Modi. This is a double-engine sarkar. In this government, Maharashtra gets funds, economic backing (from the central government) and that is why we could start projects like Metro works that were stalled during the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government immediately,” he said.
“Not just in Mumbai, but across the entire state, projects are being speedily implemented, and that is why the state’s people have given us their blessings, their love,” Shinde added.
Talking about the preference cited in the advertisement, the CM added, “I have been given some percentage of preference and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis has also got approval. We are both leading the state as chiefs and taking the state forward,” he added.
ThePrint also reached Shiv Sena spokesperson Sheetal Mhatre for a comment on the advertisement via calls and text message, but she did not respond. Sena leader Naresh Mhaske told Print that he wasn’t aware of the details of the advertisement.
Meanwhile, in the BJP camp, Keshav Upadhye, chief spokesperson of the party in the state, maintained a cautious stand, saying every party has the right to advertise the way it wants.
“For us, the most important thing is that the public prefers a BJP-Shiv Sena government,” he told ThePrint.
However, Vishwas Pathak, co-chief spokesperson of Maharashtra BJP, took to Twitter to express his surprise at a public survey preferring Shinde as CM over Fadnavis. “Eknathji first choice over Devendraji? Where to find the contact number of the survey agency?” he tweeted.
देवेंद्रजींपेक्षा एकनाथजींन्ना पहिली पसंती 🤔
सर्वेक्षण एजन्सीचा संपर्क क्रमांक कुठे मिळेल?#EknathShinde #DevendraFadnavis #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/rxyXJfOsLu
— Vishwas Pathak (@vishwasvpathak) June 13, 2023
A source in the Shinde camp, meanwhile, downplayed the talk of the advertisement being a way for the Shinde-led Shiv Sena to flex its muscle by pointing to the fact that Amit Malviya, national in-charge of the BJP’s IT Cell, had tweeted about the survey Monday.
Bad news for whoever is relevant in Maharashtra Congress, Uddhav and Sule… If assembly elections are held today, MVA will sink… pic.twitter.com/2bEHftx1Rc
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 12, 2023
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Opposition reaction
The advertisement carried a picture of Modi and Shinde as if in deep conversation. “The commendable teamwork of Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has secured the highest position in Maharashtra through their recent welfare projects,” it read.
There was no photograph of deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, or even Shiv Sena’s founder Bal Thackeray, which is usually present in all publicity material of the party.
Calling the Shinde-led Shiv Sena “Modi Sena,” Sanjay Raut, Rajya Sabha MP from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) told reporters, “I don’t think this is a survey done in Maharashtra. It must have been done in the CM’s bungalow or in Gujarat.”
Pointing to the absence of Bal Thackeray’s photo, Raut said. “I don’t want to get into it, but in this entire multi-crore publicity campaign, those who call themselves the heirs of Balasaheb Thackeray’s legacy have put Modi’s photo, but Balasaheb’s photo can’t be seen anywhere. This is ultimately Modi Sena.”
Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto called the ad “the beginning of the entertainment of a BJP vs Shiv Sena battle”.
“After reading the advertisement ‘Rashtramadhe Modi Maharashtrat Shinde’ (Modi at the Centre, Shinde in Maharashtra), all those who gave the slogan of ‘desh mein Narendra, Maharashtra mein Devendra’ (Narendra in the country and Devendra in Maharashtra), and then with a heavy heart went on to accept Eknath Shinde over Devendra Fadnavis as the CM of Maharashtra must be very sad today. This now begins the entertainment of BJP versus Shiv Sena in Maharashtra,” Crasto said.
Cracks in the ruling alliance
Ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena has attempted to flex its political muscle through the advertisement at a time when local BJP leaders have staked claim to Thane — the CM’s bastion — and Kalyan, his son Shrikant’s parliamentary constituency.
Speaking at a party conclave, Sanjay Kelkar, the BJP MLA for Thane, reportedly said Sunday that many from his district, including from allied parties, had won only because of Modi, and that there is no one other than the BJP that can get elected in the whole of Thane, Kalyan, and Palghar due to the party’s ground work.
Last week, local BJP leaders from Kalyan had passed a resolution that they would only back a candidate from their own party for the parliamentary seat. Shrikant Shinde then issued a statement saying some local leaders were trying to create a rift in the alliance for their own selfish politics, and that he was willing even to resign for the sake of the alliance.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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