'Devabhau' ads featuring CM Fadnavis sparks row in Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti alliance
Mumbai: A fresh political controversy has erupted in Maharashtra after full-page advertisements and hoardings across Mumbai projected Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as “Devabhau,” while sidelining Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. The publicity campaign has raised questions about unity within the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
The row comes soon after the Maratha reservation protests in Mumbai, where Fadnavis appeared politically isolated as both Shinde and Pawar distanced themselves. Now, the sudden visibility of advertisements focusing solely on the Chief Minister has intensified speculation of a power struggle and credit wars within the coalition.
The advertisements, published on Saturday, depicted Fadnavis offering flowers to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and performing Ganesh puja on Anant Chaturdashi, with the tagline “Devabhau.” No mention was made of his coalition partners. While the sponsor remains unidentified, the scale and cost have fueled political debate.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut alleged that ₹40–50 crore was spent in a single day, accusing the BJP of misusing Shivaji Maharaj’s image for political gain. He questioned the source of funding and hinted at the use of black money. “At a time when Maharashtra is reeling under farmer suicides and heavy rains, such extravagance is shameful,” Raut remarked, further challenging the RSS to prove its respect for Shivaji Maharaj by installing his portrait or statue at its Nagpur headquarters.
Adding another twist, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MLA Rohit Pawar claimed that the BJP did not fund the advertisements. Instead, he alleged that a minister from an allied party sponsored the campaign without informing Fadnavis. “Who is this minister and where did the crores come from? Maharashtra deserves answers,” Rohit Pawar wrote on social media.
Meanwhile, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde downplayed the controversy, asserting that there was no internal rivalry. “There is no competition for credit. We are working together as a team under the Mahayuti government. Fadnavisji and I are in our second innings with the same agenda of development and welfare of the poor,” Shinde told reporters in Thane.
एकीकडे राज्यात रोज ८ शेतकरी आत्महत्या होत असताना आणि अतिवृष्टीने संपूर्ण महाराष्ट्र झोडपला असताना वृत्तपत्रांच्या पहिल्या पानावर तसेच अनेक विमानतळांवर कोट्यवधी रुपये उधळून मुख्यमंत्र्यांच्या मोठमोठ्या जाहिराती देण्याची सरकारची वृत्ती बघून मोठी चीड आली, परंतु मा. देवेंद्र फडणवीस… pic.twitter.com/IpLZjm8DUv
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Media dinner shooting suspect wrote about targeting of administration officials, Trump says
Washington (AP): The man accused of trying to storm the ballroom at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner with guns and knives had written about targeting Trump administration officials, and his family raised concerns with law enforcement before the event, President Donald Trump said Sunday in an interview on Fox News Channel.
The accused gunman's family had alerted police in Connecticut, Trump said, revealing new details about a chaotic encounter that disrupted one of Washington's glitziest annual events the night before.
The suspect, identified by law enforcement officials as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, was expected to face criminal charges on Monday from the Justice Department, whose acting leader, Todd Blanche, said the suspect travelled by train from California and checked in as a guest days earlier at the Washington hotel where the Saturday night gala dinner was held with its typically tight security.
Law enforcement officials who have interviewed Allen's relatives, examined the gunman's electronic devices and his writings preliminarily believe he intended to target administration members in attendance at the dinner.
He attempted to charge into the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a violent scene that resulted in shots being fired, Trump being hurried off the stage and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.
“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC's “Meet the Press.”
The suspect is believed to have purchased the two firearms he carried within the last couple of years, Blanche said. He is not being cooperative and is expected to face multiple charges on Monday.
Video posted by Trump showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran toward him. One officer was shot in a bullet-resistant vest but was recovering, officials said. The gunman was taken into custody and was not injured, but was being evaluated at a hospital, police said.
“He failed,” Blanche said on CBS's “Face the Nation.” “Law enforcement did their jobs.”
Authorities believe the suspect fired the shot that hit the Secret Service officer, who is expected to make a full recovery, Blanche said.
“He's going to be great, he's going to be fine, and thank God he was wearing a bulletproof vest,” Blanche said Sunday on ABC's “This Week.”
Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.
A May 2025 profile photo of Allen appears to match the appearance of the man in a photo of the alleged attacker being taken into custody that was posted Saturday night by Trump.
The photo, posted to the social networking site LinkedIn, shows him in a cap and gown after graduating with a master's degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Allen earned a bachelor's degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He listed his involvement there in a Christian student fellowship and a campus group that battled with Nerf guns.
The shooting at the security barricades happened minutes after the event got underway.
The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. Gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realised something was happening. Hundreds of journalists immediately got on phones to call in information.
“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as the president was escorted offstage. Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.
After an initial attempt to resume the event, it was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.
Trump was unusually conciliatory after what he saw as a third attempt on his life in less than two years. He suggested that his personal politics had made him a repeated target, but he also called for unity and bipartisan healing in an increasingly violent world.
“It's always shocking when something like this happens. Happened to me, a little bit. And that never changes,” Trump told reporters in a hastily organised news conference at the White House late Saturday.
