Mumbai: Fissures have emerged in Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti over the ‘Ladki Bahin Yojana’ with a Shiv Sena minister raising objection against ally NCP and its president Ajit Pawar for “omitting” Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s name from advertisements and promotional material of the scheme.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday, state Excise Minister Shambhuraj Desai, who belongs to the Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde, expressed disappointment over the Deputy CM Pawar virtually “hijacking” the ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin’ scheme, which offers a financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women in the state.
He said not using the full name of the scheme during his (Pawar’s) public outreach programmes was not as per the protocol. “The scheme has ‘Chief Minister’ in its name, and removing it from the scheme is inappropriate. It should not have been done,” Desai alleged.
Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections likely to be held in November, Ajit Pawar, who is also the state Finance Minister, last month launched his party’s ‘Jan Sanman Yatra’, a public outreach programme. Its narrative is focused on the benefits of the financial assistance provided under the Ladki Bahin 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 ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin’ scheme.