Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Tuesday placed a full-page advertisement in many newspapers titled "PM Modi for India, Eknath Shinde for Maharashtra", quoting a survey where Mr Shinde is shown as more preferred for the top post than BJP's Devendra Fadnavis.
The ad prompted Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut to call the party "Narendra Modi-Amit Shah's Shiv Sena".
The advertisement carries Sena's bow-and-arrow symbol and images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Shinde. It has no image or photo of Shiv Sena founder late Balasaheb Thackeray, a noticeable departure going by its earlier publicity materials.
"For the chief minister's position, 26.1 per cent of the people in Maharashtra desire Eknath Shinde and 23.2 per cent of the people wish to see Devendra Fadnavis as the next chief minister," reads the advertisement.
Thus, it is undeniable proof that 49.3 per cent of the people in Maharashtra wish to see a strong alliance between BJP and Shiv Sena for their state's leadership, it said.
The figures and claims in the advertisement have been attributed to a Zee TV-Matrize survey.
"According to the election surveys, 30.2 per cent of citizens of Maharashtra prefer Bharatiya Janata Party, while 16.2 per cent of citizens prefer the Shiv Sena (led by Eknath Shinde). These numbers show that a total of 46.4 per cent people of Maharashtra trust the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena alliance for the development of the state," the advertisement said.
Responding to the advertisement, Sanjay Raut of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) said, "It was Balasaheb's Shiv Sena earlier, but the advertisement has cleared the air. It has now become Narendra Modi-Amit Shah's Shiv Sena. Where is the image or photo of late Balasaheb Thackeray in the advertisement?" State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, however, tried to downplay the advertisement.
"It is always the election result that decides which party or leader is more acceptable to the voters. Eknath Shinde as a cabinet minister was popular earlier and now his acceptance has increased as the chief minister. People of the state have lots of expectations from Mr Fadnavis, Mr Shinde and PM Modi."
As a state-level leader, the people of Maharashtra have given preference to Mr Fadnavis twice, he said. "There is no comparison between the Shiv Sena and BJP about who is a bigger or smaller party," added Mr Bawankule.
Chief spokesperson of the Maharashtra unit of Congress Atul Londhe called it a "false" survey that he said Mr Shinde has used to promote himself.
"Once the election is over, Maha Vikas Aghadi will win more than 42 Lok Sabha seats (in Maharashtra) and 200 seats in the assembly for sure. A new story would be written about him (Eknath Shinde) as 'once upon a time, there was Eknath Shinde'," he said.
Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats and 288 Assembly constituencies. Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners - Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP - have asserted that they will fight the polls with maximum coordination.
Bharat Gogawale, chief whip of the Eknath Shinde-led Sena said, "We never manage anyone to get a favourable survey. He (Eknath Shinde) is even accessible to people and visits all parts of the state. We have not asked any media house to conduct a survey for us."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
