PUNE: Both NCPs decided not to campaign for their candidates and settled for door-to-door canvassing but the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has resorted to artificial intelligence-generated audio and video clips mimicking the voice and visuals of the late leader to pitch an emotional appeal to voters for zilla parishad (ZP) and panchayat samiti elections on Saturday. The late deputy chief minister who died in a plane crash on Jan 28 in Baramati, was a towering political figure in Pune district, an NCP bastion for over two decades.His sudden death sent shock waves across Maharashtra, particularly in rural pockets where his influence extended beyond politics into cooperative institutions, local bodies, and governance.The AI-generated audio and video messages, circulated widely through groups and local campaign networks, run for 2 to 3 minutes and are deeply emotional. In the clips, a voice resembling Pawar recalls his role in selecting candidates while distributing tickets and outlines his vision for the ZP, urging voters to support those he “trusted” to carry forward his work.“These messages remind people of his commitment to rural development and the faith he placed in these candidates,” said a local NCP leader, requesting anonymity.For many villagers, Ajit Pawar‘s voice still carries emotional weight. According to party functionaries, the audio messages are intended to reconnect voters with Pawar’s legacy when sympathy, nostalgia, and political loyalty are converging ahead of polling.However, the use of AI-generated content in a live electoral contest triggered quiet unease among political observers and rival parties. Critics and rival candidates argue that deploying a simulated voice of a deceased leader blurs ethical lines, particularly when emotions following a tragic death remain raw.Opposition leaders said such material amounts to emotional manipulation of voters, even as they acknowledge Pawar’s deep-rooted influence in the region. “There is sympathy for Ajit Pawar across party lines, but elections must be fought by the living, not by recreating voices of the dead,” Srinath Lande, a Shiv Sena candidate for the ZP polls said.
