Congress' Bandra MLA fumes over Sena posters on free vaccine centres in his constituency

Fuming over ally Shiv Sena's large posters announcing 'free vaccination' in his constituency, Congress' Bandra East MLA Zeeshan Siddiqui on Thursday, slammed the Sena for 'glorifying openings of vaccination centres'. Calling it the govt's duty, Siddiqui noted that only Shiv Sena leaders' faces were featuring in the posters, with no mention of the MVA govt. Stating that the vaccination was not funded by Shiv Sena's party fund, Siddiqui has complained that 'Mumbai has more banners than vaccines'.

Congress MLA fumes over Shiva Sena banner in his constituency

Recently, another MVA ally - NCP ran into trouble after the Maharashtra government earmarked close to Rs.6 crore for handling the social media accounts of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. As per an order issued by the General Administration Department on Wednesday, the state government has decided to appoint an external agency to handle his handles on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, blog and website. However, the DGIPR shall be responsible for keeping a check on the functioning of the agency so that no mistakes are committed and ensuring that there is no duplication of the messages conveyed by the secretariat of the CM and the Deputy CM.

Crying foul over this splurge, the Mumbai unit of AAP stated, "Maharashtra reeling under an economic and health crisis, but cash-strapped Maha Vikas Aghadi sarkar can still waste 6 Crores of public money for building Deputy CM Ajit Pawar's image!" Meanwhile, BJP MLA Ram Kadam questioned the priorities of the government. According to him, the splurging of money on publicity was at odds with MVA's assertion that there is not enough money for the COVID-19 vaccination. Pawar has since then rescinded the order stating that he will handle his social media handle by himself.

Sena & Congress-NCP

Sena has often clashed with its ideological polar opposite Congress since the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance over issues like Hindutva, CAA, NRC, Ram Janmabhoomi, Savarkar, COVID-19 etc, with NCP playing the peacemaker. Several ministers from NCP and Congress have accused Uddhav Thackeray of depending more on bureaucrats than his alliance partners, alleging that they were being 'sidelined'. Senior Congress ministers have openly stated that the party has had no say in any of the decisions being taken by the Thackeray government. Congress has also asserted that Sena is not a part of UPA and had no say in choosing its alliance chief. All three allies have maintained that the alliance is safe, but BJP has often asserted that the MVA govt will fall on its own.