Freebies being announced despite heavy debt as Mahayuti suffered losses in LS polls: Raut

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday alleged that the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra was announcing freebies despite the state reeling under the debt burden of Rs 8 lakh crore as the ruling parties suffered setbacks in the Lok Sabha elections. His remark comes a day after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced a job training and stipend scheme for youth, tentatively named 'Ladka Bhau' Yojana.

The scheme was announced days after the government introduced a monthly financial assistance scheme for eligible women. Under the 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin' scheme announced in the state Budget, married, divorced, and destitute women aged 21-60 will receive Rs 1,500 per month, with the annual family income of beneficiaries capped at Rs 2.5 lakh. "The government copied the Madhya Pradesh government's (Ladli Behna) scheme to provide women Rs 1,500 per month, while under the Ladka Bhau scheme, men who are Class 12 pass will get Rs 6,000 and unemployed graduates will get Rs 10,000. So why should women get just Rs 1,500..Will they be able to run their houses in this amount? We demand that ladki bahin (beloved sister) should also get Rs 10,000 per month," he told reporters.

"The state already has a debt of Rs 8 lakh crore. This is not a small amount," he added. Before the Lok Sabha polls, the ruling Mahayuti alliance used to say that the opposition will not be able to win even 10 parliamentary seats in Maharashtra, but the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) bagged 31 seats, he said. The BJP's seat count in Maharashtra dropped drastically from 23 in 2019 to just nine in the recent Lok Sabha polls, with its ally Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde securing seven seats and the NCP, led by deputy CM Ajit Pawar, managing to win in just one constituency. In contrast, the opposition MVA, comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), and the Congress, put up an impressive show and collectively won 30 out of the 48 seats.

In the upcoming assembly elections, the opposition MVA will win 280 (out of total 288) seats, Raut claimed. "There is no formula decided as yet for the MVA. At present, we are assessing all the 288 assembly constituencies. We will sit together and decide who will contest which seat," he said. When asked about senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal from the Ajit Pawar faction meeting NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Raut said, "Bhujbal is a big actor. He has worked in movies and he is known to create drama by being in disguise. But Sharad Pawar is a 'natsamrat' (emperor of actors), who is standing tall in state and national politics." Maharashtra has a mobile stage which moves around and people like Bhujbal are actors on this stage, the Rajya Sabha member said.