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Fissures have emerged in Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti alliance over claiming credit for the ‘Ladki Bahin Yojana,’ the flagship scheme of the Eknath Shinde-led government that is expected to help the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP alliance in the upcoming assembly elections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The differences within the alliance has been simmering for many months. And last week, during a cabinet meeting, a minister from the Shiv Sena (Shinde Sena) objected to the Ajit Pawar-led NCP\u2019s decision to omit the chief minister’s photo from advertisements and promotional material on the \u2018Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana\u2019 \u2013 the state government\u2019s scheme which provides \u20b9<\/span>1500 per month to over one crore women.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Shinde has to intervene to pacify both sides during the meeting, according to reports. The charge is that Pawar, the deputy chief minister, has \u2018hijacked\u2019 the state government’s scheme.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “The scheme has Chief Minister in its name, and removing it from the scheme is inappropriate. It should not have been done,” state Excise Minister Shambhuraj Desai, who belongs to the Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde, said on Friday. Desai alleged that by not using the full name of the scheme during his (Pawar’s) public outreach programmes was not as per the protocol.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ajit Pawar launched his party’s ‘Jan Sanman Yatra’, a public outreach programme last month. The narrative of the outreach is focused on the benefits of the financial assistance provided under the \u2018Ladki Bahin\u2019 and other schemes. The advertisements and other promotional material used during the campaign, the NCP is seen mentioning the name of the scheme as just ‘Majhi Ladki Bahin’ instead of the full name, according to a PTI report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Ajit Pawar camp has also released two videos in which the beneficiaries were shown thanking Ajit Pawar for the scheme.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pawar, who is also Maharashtra Finance Minister, announced the scheme in June while presenting the state\u2019s annual Budget. With an estimated 2.5 crore beneficiaries, the state exchequer is set to incur a whopping \u20b9<\/span>46,000 crore expenditure on the scheme.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The scheme was was launched soon after the Lok Sabha elections, 2024and in the run up to assembly polls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Many, including leaders from opposition parties, said that the scheme has been brought to woo voters in the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra. The tenure of the 288-member Maharashtra legislative assembly <\/a>tenure of the current government ends on November 26, 2024 which means a new government has to be sworn in before that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nCredit War over flagship scheme<\/h2>\n
Eye on Maharashtra Assembly Polls<\/h2>\n