"Not seen this kind of advertisement...": Ajit Pawar's jibe at BJP-Shiv Sena

Ajit Pawar. File Pic

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Tuesday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena over the advertisement featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Ajit Pawar said that the poster didn't feature Shiv Sena's stalwarts like Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe.

"Till date, in my political career, I have not seen this kind of advertisement which I saw in today's newspapers. PM Narendra Modi and CM Shinde's photos were there in the advertisement," Ajit Pawar told news agency ANI.

He added, "They (Shiv Sena) say that they are the soldiers of Balasaheb Thackeray, whereas Balasaheb Thackeray's and Anand Dighe's photos were missing from the advertisement."

This comes after full-page advertisements appeared in newspapers across the state with the tagline "Modi for India, Shinde for Maharashtra".

Full-page advertisements appeared across major newspapers in Maharashtra on Tuesday, citing a survey that showed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ahead of Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in popularity.

While the advertisement's tagline was "Modi for India, Shinde for Maharashtra", the chief minister sought to downplay it, saying both he and BJP leader Fadnavis were "in people's minds" and working together.

Shiv Sena minister Shambhuraj Desai told PTI, "Our party has nothing to do with the advertisement. It may have been issued by a well-wisher of our party, Shinde and Fadnavis."

The advertisement did not carry the pictures of either Fadnavis or Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray. Shinde, who split the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena last year and became chief minister, has always maintained that his Sena faction represents Bal Thackeray's vision and ideology.

As much as 26.1 per cent of people in Maharashtra want Eknath Shinde as chief minister while 23.2 per cent wish to see Fadnavis as the next chief minister, the advertisement claimed.
Thus, 49.3 per cent of people in Maharashtra supported the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, it said, citing a survey conducted by Zee TV-Matrize.

Further, 30.2 per cent citizens of Maharashtra prefer the Bharatiya Janata Party while 16.2 per cent prefer the Shiv Sena (led by Eknath Shinde), which means a total of 46.4 per cent of people trust the alliance for development of the state, the advertisement said.