With two days to go before Maharashtra votes, the ruling coalition Mahayuti and its challenger Maha Vikas Aghadi have put out newspaper ads targeting each other. A BJP advertisement collated news headlines on terror attacks during Congress rule and appealed to people to “say no to Congress”. The Maha Vikas Aghadi, on the other hand, put out ads with cartoons of BJP leaders and termed the Mahayuti “Maha Abhadra Yuti”, meaning “Grand Cruel Alliance”.
The ads appeared back to back in most major newspapers. The ad by BJP Maharashtra mentioned headlines of 1993 serial bomb blasts, 2006 Mumbai train blast, 26/11 terror attacks and 2010 Pune German Bakery bomb blast. It also mentioned alleged irregularities in providing khichdi to migrant workers and procurement of body bags during the Covid pandemic.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi targeted the Mahayuti alliance of BJP-Shiv Sena and NCP (Ajit Pawar) over farmer suicides, unfulfilled promises, poor condition of roads, vacant posts, unemployment and crime. Cartoons used in the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s ad showed BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as a puppeteer controlling Sena chief Eknath Shinde and NCP leader Ajit Pawar. Another cartoon showed Chief Minister Shinde and Deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar huddled around Prime Minister Narendra Modi, apparently to flatter him.
Maharashtra votes on Wednesday in what is expected to be a very exciting electoral contest. In the last Assembly election, the NDA alliance of BJP and undivided Shiv Sena had scored a thumping victory, winning 161 seats in the 288-member Assembly. However, the long-time allies parted ways due to differences over rotational Chiefministership. Soon after, Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray tied up with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
This government toppled in 2022 when Eknath Shinde led a mutiny that split the Shiv Sena. The Shinde Sena joined hands with the BJP. Later, Ajit Pawar’s rebellion divided the NCP ranks too. The junior Pawar then joined the ruling coalition. In this election, the two factions of Shiv Sena and NCP are on opposite sides of the political divide, making it a prestige contest.
In the Lok Sabha election earlier this year, the Opposition bloc of Congress-Sena UBT-NCP (Sharad Pawar) scored big by winning 30 out of Maharashtra’s 48 seats. The Mahayuti won 17 seats. This time, the Maha Vikas Aghadi is looking to clinch a big win, while Mahayuti has gone all out to make a comeback from the Lok Sabha setback.