Maharashtra Assembly Elections: Addressing a poll rally in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Saturday that "Vote Jihad" should be countered by "Dharma-yuddha" of votes.


The BJP leader was speaking at an election rally in support of Mahayuti coalition candidates Atul Save (Aurangabad East), Pradip Jaiswal (Aurangabad Central), and Sanjay Shirsat (Aurangabad West).


"No one can change the name of this city now. At an AIMIM rally here, someone asked who was Sambhaji Maharaj. Sambhaji Maharaj remained undefeated for nine years. So we have given his name to the city," he said.


Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar was earlier known as Aurangabad. It was renamed last year after the second ruler of the Maratha state after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.


Fadnavis alleged that a vote jihad has begun in Maharashtra ahead of the November 20 Assembly elections.


"A vote Jihad has begun in the state now. We saw that in the Lok Sabha elections. In Dhule, we were ahead by 1.90 lakh votes but the Malegaon (assembly segment) had 1.94 lakh votes and we were defeated by only 4,000 votes. This vote Jihad was the reason for our defeat there because we were not together," the BJP leader said.


"The election is an opportunity to show that Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar was a saffron fortress," he added.


Fadnvais reiterated the message given by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has given the message 'batenge toh katenge' (divided we perish), which has since sparked a row, and PM Modi's 'ek rahenge toh safe rahenge' (united we remain safe) message.


In an apparent reference to Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and former BJP ally Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis stated that people have begun calling late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who gave the name 'Sambhajinagar' to Aurangabad, as 'Janab' Bal Thackeray as they are now "ashamed to call him Hindu-hridaya-samrat (ruler of Hindu hearts)". 


Taking a swipe at the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Fadnavis said, "This is an election for crushing the dreams of those who are trying to bring the rule of Razakars to the city". Razakars were the infamous militia of the Nizam, the erstwhile ruler of the Hyderabad state of which Aurangabad was a part.


"If they are doing vote Jihad, Sambhajinagar should be ready to do 'Dharma-yuddha' (religious war) of votes," Fadnavis remarked.


The BJP leader stated that the Mhayuti government sanctioned a water pipeline scheme worth Rs 1600 crore in "just eight days" since the local administration did not have sufficient funds to pay its share of Rs 600 crore for the project.


He claimed that the opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi government stopped it but the Mahayuti resumed it as a result of which every home in the city will have enough water in the next three months. "Garbage, sewer line, road issues were resolved by funding the development works here. We also built (Nagpur-Mumbai) Samruddhi highway which helped us bring investments of Rs 73,000 crore to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar," he said, promising investment of another Rs 1 lakh crore in the city.


"The state sanctioned Rs 740 crore for the expansion of the local airport," he noted. The BJP leader added that a sports university and cricket stadium were being built in the city.


(With inputs from news agency PTI)