'DevaBhau' ad featuring Fadnavis paying tribute to Shivaji sparks row in Maharashtra

Mumbai: The full front-page ‘DevaBhau’ advertisement in multiple newspapers showing Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis paying tribute to legendary Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj - has snowballed into a major political issue in Maharashtra with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi slamming the BJP and alleging use of black-money.

Who has issued the advertisement is not yet known, and this has led to speculations of various sorts.

The advertisement comes in the wake of the Maha Yuti government deciding to implement the Hyderabad Gazette in Marathwada region - which states that Marathas are Kunbis - enabling them to seek reservation under the OBC category.

Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut and NCP (SP) Karjat-Jamkhed MLA Rohit Pawar questioned about the source.

“What is the identity of the invisible donor? The advertisement would have cost Rs 40-Rs 50 crore. While every Marathi should revere Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, using his photo for political mileage and self-promotion is improper,” he said pointing out that their anonymity suggests that black money could have been used.

"While eight farmers end their lives daily in the state and Maharashtra is battered by excessive rainfall, seeing the government's tendency to splurge crores of rupees on large advertisements of the Chief Minister on the pages of newspapers at several airports has caused great irritation,” Pawar said.

"Upon gathering more information about these advertisements worth crores of rupees, it was learned that these advertisements were issued unilaterally by a minister in the government without informing Fadnavis, and notably, this minister is not from the BJP but from an ally,” he said, adding: “If the information I have received is true, why did the minister from the allied party anonymously issue advertisements worth crores of rupees for the Chief Minister? Where did the crores of rupees for these advertisements come from? Who is this minister? Many such questions arise. If those responsible for the advertisements come forward, the answers to these questions will surely be found.

Meanwhile, responding to the allegations, state Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said: “If someone has given an advertisement…why they are having stomach ache. How many advertisements were issued by (former Chief Minister) Uddhav Thackeray when he ran the MVA government.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is the chief leader of Shiv Sena, said: “We are not in a race to take credit...Whether it is the Maratha community or the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community, the work of delivering justice to them has been done by the Maha Yuti government. The validation of this work was already received in the last assembly elections…iow Devendra Ji and I have started our second innings as a team. Going forward, our agenda remains the same - development of the state and helping the poor and needy.”