Maharashtra News: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Tuesday released a full-page advertisement in various newspapers with the headline “Modi in the nation, Shinde government in Maharashtra”. The advertisement has been published citing a survey in which Shinde has been shown as the leader preferred by the people for the post of Chief Minister than BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis.
Shiv Sena’s election symbol ‘bow and arrow’ is at the top of the advertisement. It has pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Shinde. It is worth noting that there is no picture of Shiv Sena founder late Balasaheb Thackeray in this advertisement, whereas earlier Shiv Sena’s picture used to be prominent in every advertisement.
The advertisement said, “According to a survey conducted for the post of Chief Minister, 26.1 percent people of Maharashtra want to see Eknath Shinde and 23.2 percent people want to see Devendra Fadnavis as the Chief Minister.” It reads, “That means Maharashtra.” 49.3 per cent people again give their stamp of approval for liking this pair.” It reads, “The public welfare projects done by the pair of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Maharashtra have currently given them the highest rank in a survey. Got a place.
According to the advertisement, “According to the polling survey, the Bharatiya Janata Party is supported by 30.2 per cent people and the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde led by) is liked by 16.2 per cent people. That is, 46.4 percent of the people of Maharashtra want the BJP-Shiv Sena duo to come back to power.
BJP gave this reaction on the advertisement
State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule played down the advertisement, saying, “Election results always decide which party or leader the voters like. Earlier Shinde was popular as a cabinet minister and now his acceptability as Chief Minister has increased. The people of the state have high expectations from Fadnavis, Shinde and Modi. He said that the people of Maharashtra have twice preferred Fadnavis as a state level leader. He said, “There is no comparison between the Shiv Sena and the BJP as to who is a big party and who is a small one.”
Sanjay Raut targeted
Reacting to the advertisement, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, “Earlier it used to be Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena, but the advertisement has cleared the air.” Now it has become Shiv Sena of Modi-Shah. Where is the picture of Balasaheb Thackeray in the advertisement?
What did Congress say?
Congress’ Maharashtra unit chief spokesperson Atul Londhe termed it a “false” survey and said Shinde had used it for his campaign. He said, “If elections are held, Maha Vikas Aghadi will definitely win more than 42 Lok Sabha seats and more than 200 assembly seats in Maharashtra. A new story will be written about him (Shinde) that ‘Once upon a time there was a Shinde…'”.
We have not asked any media organization to conduct the survey – Shiv Sena
Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s chief whip Bharat Gogawale said, “We don’t compromise with anyone to get surveys done in our favor. He (Shinde) is accessible to the public and visits all areas of the state. We did not ask any media organization to conduct the survey for us.
