A rift has emerged within Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti alliance over the implementation of the Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, a flagship welfare scheme aimed at empowering women through monthly financial aid. While the initiative was instrumental in the alliance’s electoral victory last year, its rollout and financing have become a point of contention. Shiv Sena leaders are openly criticizing the finance department, controlled by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar of the NCP, over alleged fund diversion and lack of transparency. The issue has highlighted deeper tensions between the alliance partners, particularly over power sharing and financial autonomy.
Social Justice Minister and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat recently accused the finance department of diverting nearly Rs 400 crore from the social justice department’s SC/ST welfare fund without informing him. “I got to know from the media,” he said, calling the move disrespectful and questioning the very purpose of his department if such actions continued unchecked. Another Sena minister, speaking anonymously, expressed discontent over the growing marginalization of their party within Mahayuti after the 2024 elections, saying that the BJP was favoring NCP while sidelining the Sena.
Old grievances resurface
The row is not entirely new. Even during the Maha Vikas Aghadi regime, Shiv Sena leaders had voiced concerns about Pawar favoring his own party’s MLAs in fund allocation. The 2022 rebellion within Sena partly stemmed from Pawar’s alleged dominance over financial decisions. Despite now being allies again, the mistrust lingers. Following the state budget presentation in March, several Sena ministers again raised concerns over reduced allocations to key departments handled by them, including urban development, housing, and school education. Pawar dismissed these as baseless, but resentment persisted.
Meanwhile, NCP leaders have brushed aside the criticisms as habitual complaints by Sena leaders. They accused Eknath Shinde of having struck a hard bargain for portfolios in the second term and now attempting to stir dissent through his ministers. BJP, trying to maintain unity, downplayed the issue, with state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule promising to resolve internal concerns.
Scheme under financial stress
Apart from political discord, the viability of Ladki Bahin Yojana itself is under scrutiny. The scheme, offering Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women, promised an increase to Rs 2,100, but delays and irregularities have plagued its delivery. Five lakh women were recently declared ineligible after a beneficiary audit. Despite Ajit Pawar ruling out scrapping the scheme, payment delays continue, raising public dissatisfaction. Critics argue that mounting debt—projected at Rs 9.32 lakh crore or 18.87% of the state’s GSDP—makes such welfare promises unsustainable without tighter fiscal management.
