Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday made a big announcement regarding the ‘Laadli Behen Yojana’. He said that if the people of Maharashtra give a big mandate to the ruling Mahayuti in the upcoming assembly elections, the state government will increase the amount of financial assistance given per month under this scheme to Rs 3,000. Currently, Rs 1,500 is given per month under the Chief Minister Majhi Ladli Behen Yojana, the flagship scheme of the Mahayuti government for women in Maharashtra. Shinde said, ‘We started the Ladli Behen Yojana, under which Rs 1,500 is being given every month to eligible women. If you increase our strength, we will increase the monthly amount to Rs 2,000. If you give a big mandate, we will increase it to Rs 3,000. We will not hesitate to increase this amount.’
CM Shinde said in a filmy style that we do not even listen to ourselves after making commitments. He said, ‘The opposition criticizes us by saying that the state government will later stop this scheme citing empty treasury. But they should not forget that the state treasury is for the people.’ Shinde said that when his government had reduced the fare of government buses by 50 percent for women passengers, concerns were raised even then. It was said that this move would lead to more losses for the state transport corporation. He said, ‘On the contrary, after the start of this initiative, the number of women using the bus service increased, which ultimately proved beneficial for the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).’
JP Nadda met BJP leaders
At the same time, BJP President JP Nadda performed Ganesh Puja at CM Shinde’s official residence in South Mumbai as part of Ganpati Utsav on Saturday. After this, he went to the official residence of Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and performed Puja. Nadda also held a meeting with party leaders there. JP Nadda was accompanied by Union Minister and BJP’s Maharashtra in-charge Bhupendra Yadav, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, party’s state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Mumbai unit president Ashish Shelar, former Union Minister Raosaheb Danve and MLC Praveen Darekar at Fadnavis’ residence. It is known that assembly elections in the state are likely to be held in November. BJP, Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are part of the ruling coalition Mahayuti in the state.
