Prithviraj Chouhan seeks probe into Maha EC for hiring BJP ad agency during 2019 polls

In a massive development, former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chouhan on Friday, wrote to Chief Election Commissioner seeking an investigation into Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) after he had allegedly hired an advertising agency linked to BJP. Chouhan stated the Maharashtra CEO had hired an advertising company named 'Signpost India', owned by a BJP-office-bearer during the Maharashtra state elections in 2019. The CEO had reportedly used Signpost India to handle its social media campaign -which is a partnership firm owned by Devang Dave - National Convenor of IT cell of BJP's Youth Wing.

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Chouhan seeks probe into Maharashtra CEO

Pointing out the EC must monitor all political parties' social media activity and has access to voter databases and demographics, he alleged that BJP may have had access to these as the EC's media campaign was run by their party official. He posed three questions enquiring about the process involved in selecting the advertising agency, the transparency of said process, and if there was a political pressure on the CEO to use that agency. The Election Commission has already sought a report into the issue from the CEO Maharashtra immediately, as informed by EC spokesperson Sheyphali Sharan.

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Maharashtra poll debacle

After the Maharashtra elections, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance fell as the Sena reiterated that it will accept only the 50:50 formula on CM post and cabinet portfolios, while the BJP denied ever having agreed to such a formula. With no respite to the deadlock, Sena allied with NCP-Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. While the three parties were holding talks, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as CM with Ajit Pawar as his deputy CM. This BJP-NCP govt fell within 4 days as Ajit Pawar rescinded his support after the Supreme Court ordered an open ballot floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly immediately. 

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Both Fadnavis and Pawar resigned and Thackeray was sworn-in as the first Thackeray CM on November 27. Since coming to power, Sena which has formed a 'secular' alliance with Congress and NCP has often differed from its allies on several issues - CAA, NRC, Ram Mandir, Veer Savarkar etc. Moreover, the MVA govt has also been on shaky ground due to the uneven distribution of power with Congress accusing Sena of taking decisions unilaterally on several issues including the current strict statewide Coronavirus lockdown.