Just as the Maratha agitation subsided in Mumbai last week and the agitators celebrated victory at the Azad Maidan before vacating the streets of south Mumbai and returning to their villages, a high-powered, 360-degree advertising campaign emerged in the media and on the billboards of Mumbai, indicating the promotion of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. This became the talk of the town in the state capital. The advertising campaign showed Fadnavis bowing to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue, with just one word written at the bottom—Devabhau. This is the nickname Fadnavis wants his followers and supporters to use publicly. The campaign was massive, covering most of the newspapers, news channels, and social media as well as billboards in many parts of Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. Interestingly, there was no mention of who released the campaign. This provided ammunition to the opposition parties, with some asking questions with regard to it.

The controversy over Fadnavis emerging victorious after the stressful days of the Maratha agitation in Mumbai and the uncertainty created by it, and then taking up a media outreach........

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