BJP-Sena alliance will not be affected by a small advertisement, says Shinde

At the event, Shinde said, “The BJP and Shiv Sena alliance, as evident from the presence of leaders from both parties on the stage, is firmly united. (Deputy CM) Devendra Fadnavis and I share a strong bond. No one should worry. Our alliance will not be affected by a small advertisement… Our alliance is not so weak… It has been formed based on a common ideology. The alliance was formed by Balasaheb Thackeray, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pramod Mahajan. And now under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are moving forward.”

Shinde was referring to the advertisement which appeared across publications on Tuesday causing friction between the two alliance partners. The advertisement quoted a survey stating that Shinde is the most preferred CM with 26.1 per cent of people backing him followed by Fadnavis, supported by 23.2 per cent. The advertisement had the pictures of Modi and Shinde — but not of Fadnavis.

In a damage-control exercise on Wednesday, the Sena clarified that it was not put out by the party but by some well-wisher and came out with another advertisement that had pictures of Fadnavis with Shinde.