MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday took a swipe at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, suggesting that he and other BJP leaders put up photographs of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) convenor Abhijit Dipke in their offices for drawing attention to the concerns of Gen Z.Raut’s remarks came while he criticised the BJP over its attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s student outreach programme in Pune, which the party had labelled “Paise Ki Goonj” and alleged involved payments to social media influencers to mobilise crowds.“Devendra Fadnavis and other BJP leaders should hang photos of Abhijeet Dipke. Because of him, they realised that there is a Gen Z,” Raut said.Fadnavis on Sunday attended the ‘Manthan 4 Yuva’ event for Gen Z in Nagpur.Raut also questioned the BJP’s criticism of Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ programme, asking what the Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana should be called if the student event was considered a paid programme.“If Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ event was a paid programme, then what was the Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana, which paid Rs 1,500 per month to women ahead of the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls?” he asked.The BJP had on Saturday dubbed Gandhi’s student event in Pune as “Paise Ki Goonj”, alleging that the Congress had paid social media influencers to mobilise crowds.The remarks triggered a sharp response from the Opposition, which claimed that the BJP was apprehensive about growing support for Gandhi among Gen Z.(With agency inputs)
