A full-page advertisement published in the newspapers on the popularity of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and a comparison to his predecessor Devendra Fadnavis, has sparked rumours of a turf war between Shinde and Fadnavis. Although efforts were later made to clear the air, local BJP leaders said that the comparison with Fadnavis could have been avoided.

On Tuesday, the Shiv Sena issued a full-page advertisement with the headline ‘Modi in the country and the Eknath Shinde in Maharashtra’ in newspapers. It highlighted the results of a ‘survey’ which showed that Shinde was the most popular CM. The ad incidentally featured only two photographs, that of PM Narendra Modi and Shinde. The ad claimed that surveys had shown that 26.1% of the people preferred Shinde as CM, while 23.2% wanted Fadnavis as CM in 2024.

The comparison with Fadnavis under whose chief ministerial tenure Shinde worked as a minister from 2014 to 2019 is clearly being seen as an attack on Fadnavis.