2 Days Before Maharashtra Votes, Ad War Between Maha Vikas Aghadi, Mahayuti

BJP Maharashtra's ad mentioned headlines of bomb blasts. The Maha Vikas Aghadi brought up farmer suicides

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.