Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar on has questioned the Shinde govt on massive public relations and advertising exercise burdening the state exchequer. “Never before we have seen this kind of expenditure from the government…right from the days of Y B Chavan, the first Chief Minister till Uddhav Thackeray,” Pawar said addressing the mammoth Vajramuth rally of the Maha Vikas Aghadi at the Bandra Kurla Complex. “We have seen massive government advertisements in the last 10 months,” he said. Amid speculations of him joining hands with the ruling BJP, senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Monday tried to put to rest the buzz, saying that the people should not believe in rumours.
Speaking at the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) rally in the city, Ajit Pawar also slammed chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for “hatching conspiracy to pull down the MVA government.” “Without any verification, news is being spread and confusion is being created among party workers. I request you all our (MVA) colleagues, there is no reason to believe such stories. Do not allow them to create differences among ourselves,” Ajit Pawar said, while addressing the gathering at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) on Monday evening. The NCP leader stressed on the unity among MVA allies and said they are not power hungry. The statement came at the time of widespread speculation that Ajit Pawar was planning a split in the NCP and will join hands with the ruling BJP along with a group of party MLAs. Though NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his nephew have dismissed speculations of a split in the party, the latter’s supporters have been putting up hoardings declaring him the future chief minister of Maharashtra.