SRINAGAR: Hoardings of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah are rare in Srinagar. Opposition leader Mehbooba Mufti has none, except for one outside her office on Residency Road.But hoardings of Maharashtra leader Eknath Shinde have sprouted everywhere. They line road crossings, flyovers, the airport road, MA Road, on footpaths, and even outside the CMO on Gupkar Road. Their appearance has left many wondering about the new poster boy and who put them up.Umar Yaqoob, vice-president of the Shiv Sena’s Shinde faction in Kashmir, said the party put up more than 100 hoardings across Srinagar earlier this month. Some are general party hoardings, while others were promote a “blood donation for the country” programme. Most hoardings read: “First initiative post-Independence India” and carry photos of Bal Thackeray and Eknath Shinde on the left, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh and home minister Amit Shah on the right. A full-size image of Shinde dominates the centre. The hoardings announce that “1,000 wrestlers from Sangli district” will donate blood for soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.Yaqoob said that after the blood donation a meeting — attended by about 700 people and presided over by Shinde himself — was held at a hotel near Srinagar airport. “We thought it was better to put up a lot of hoardings so that people know we have arrived in Kashmir,” Yaqoob said. He said they didn’t pay for the hoardings.Yaqoob (30), who belongs to Kulgam, said Shinde is a frequent visitor to the Valley and serious about building the party here. Yaqoob was earlier with Peoples’ Democratic Party. He quit the party in 2002 and joined Shiv Sena. “There were many misconceptions about the Shiv Sena in Kashmir. But with frequent visits of Eknath Shinde, things have started changing and people are looking at the party positively,” he claimed. He said the party deliberately left the hoardings up, believing curiosity would keep people talking.In June 2023, when he was Maharashtra CM, Shinde had held a meeting in Srinagar with Shiv Sena in-charges from 15 states. It was the first such meeting of Shiv Sena outside Maharashtra. In Nov 2023, Shinde unveiled a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Kupwara, along the LoC.Shiv Sena Kashmir president Mohammad Shafi told TOI that Shinde would be visiting Kashmir next month. “The house of Adil Shah’s family is about to be completed. Shinde-ji will like to see it,” he added. Adil Shah was among those killed in the Pahalgam terror attack.
