Radhika Kamble, 49, seethes with anger every time someone mentions the Ladki Bahin Yojana, Maharashtra’s welfare initiative targeted at women. She feels betrayed, because two years after the scheme’s announcement, she has not yet been able to become a beneficiary. For a widow taking care of the household, the process was too overwhelming and there was no help, she says.

But that was not what left her feeling vulnerable. Within months of her husband dying, she was asked to take a photograph bereft of the mangalsutra, a symbol of marriage.

“They told me that the officials should be able to easily identify women who really need the money. Married women don’t need it as much. We need it the most. The government will understand after looking at our photos, we were told,” she says. She chokes on her emotions. Sitting in a small, unventilated room in Sangamnagar, Mumbai, she goes through the documents and her photo again and again. Frustrated, she says, “Maybe money is not written into my fate.”

Glitches and headaches

The Maharashtra government launched the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana on June 28, 2024, under the leadership of then Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, “to promote women’s economic independence, improve their health and nutrition, and strengthen their decisive role in the family,” as per the policy document.

The government said the scheme would provide ₹1,500 via a Direct Benefit Transfer to women in Maharashtra between ages 21 and 65 years, from low-income families. The family’s annual income was to be below ₹2.5 lakh.

Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana — translated as the Chief Minister’s ‘My Favourite Sister’ scheme — was modelled on a similar scheme in Madhya Pradesh, and was expected to cost the government ₹46,000 crore annually.

The government introduced terms and conditions for the scheme. Women who had a family member with government employment, or belonging to families that paid taxes, or belonged to families that owned a car did not qualify. There was a cap of two women per household who could get the cash benefit. Those who were getting similar amounts of money from other government schemes were also not eligible.

In July, the first month after the scheme was launched, the government received 1.5 crore applications from across Maharashtra, says Amol Shinde, who was the head of the CM Welfare Cell when the scheme was launched in the previous Eknath Shinde government. The first payments to the 1.5 crore women started in August 2024, two days ahead of Raksha Bandhan, and a few months ahead of the Assembly elections. Women thronged banks to get their Know-Your-Customer (KYC) established, so they could avail themselves of the money. In the second month, September, about 2.6 crore women were registered. The scrutiny of the applications than began taking place and only 2.4 crore received the benefit, says Shinde. The government subsequently introduced another condition requiring women to complete e-KYC verification, after which the number of beneficiaries began to decline. In December 2025, the number of beneficiaries was 1.57 crore.

Many women say the payments came for several months, and then simply stopped, despite all documentation being complete. Some beneficiaries are still struggling to link their Aadhaar numbers to their bank accounts through an online system that often requires external assistance to complete the necessary forms.

The Opposition in Maharashtra has trained its guns on the government for slashing the number of beneficiaries, and for the financial strain the scheme has put on the State exchequer. It has accused the government of diverting funds from other welfare schemes to continue giving benefits under Majhi Ladki Bahin.

In June 2025, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MP Supriya Sule told reporters that the scheme was a ₹4,800 crore fraud, with 14,000 men benefiting from it. She called for a white paper and a Special Investigation Report (SIT) on the scheme, saying many deserving women had been left out.

In 2025, flawed e-KYC questions wrongly flagged 24 lakh beneficiaries as government employees, halting their instalments, according to the Women and Child Development Department. Technical issues and glitches with the portal have plagued the effective rollout of the scheme so far, with women complaining of OTP failures, Aadhaar-bank linkage errors, and data mismatches.

In July 2025, a verification drive led to the suspension of 26.34 lakh accounts due to irregularities, including multiple claims within the same family, men receiving funds, and beneficiaries availing themselves of dual scheme benefits. Re-verification was subsequently conducted by district collectors. In January 2026, the e-KYC deadline was extended as a ‘last chance’ to rectify errors/OTP issues, until March 31, 2026.

Women speak out

In Mumbai’s Sangamnagar, Radhika, a mother of two, both in their 20s, lost her husband. A clerk, he fell and broke his hip. “We did not have the money to get him operated on,” she says. He eventually died.

The period after his death is a fog for her. When the scheme was announced, a local politician brought tempos with local party workers, who went door-to-door distributing forms for the scheme. Many women said they queued up at these tempos to submit the forms along with their documents.

Radhika was one of them. When she did not get any instalment as other women started getting theirs in their account, she went to her bank to inquire. They asked her to check online. The operator of the cybercafe around her house asked her to visit her bank, saying some KYC documentation was pending. She went repeatedly between the bank and the cybercafe. Each time she had to travel to the nationalised bank, she would have to skip work, the odd jobs she had picked up in the vicinity.

“After several visits, my son asked me not to feel bitter and to give up on it. I still feel there has to be some resolution. But there is no helpline, nobody to guide me,” she says. Now, with a new window for e-KYC opening up, she has filled it online and hopes to be enrolled as a beneficiary.

It is similar for Shakuntala Devi, 55, whose bank account was not linked to her Aadhaar number. Devi stays with her husband, two daughters, and a grand-daughter. She lost her son last year. Her husband is a taxi driver.

“Her account was shut down automatically,” says her 26-year-old daughter Nandini Gautam. “We don’t know if it was because it was inactive. We opened another account and linked it with her Aadhaar, but the record showed that the seeding was inactive. The bank told us to fill up a DBT form. We did it. And yet, she hasn’t got a single instalment as yet.”

Nandini was herself getting instalments till December 2025, when she was asked to do the KYC again. The server issues and website problems did not allow her to complete the KYC process in the stipulated time, she says, adding that she has now completed the process on the phone after the new window opened up.

Pragati Nakti, 22, mother to a baby, used to get her instalments regularly without any problems till June 2025. Then, they stopped. She doesn’t know why. Nothing has changed, she says, adding that the post office where her money used to get deposited, can’t find a reason either. She lives with her brother, parents, and uncle, and is the only woman of the house who has filled the form.

Apart from filling the form online on the portal, many women have also filled up offline forms via Anganwadi sevikas, ASHA workers, and gram sevaks. In fact, a few months ago, the ASHA workers and Anganwadi sevikas refused to shoulder the extra burden of work any more.

Using the funds

Women say the money helps them spend on medicine, on children’s food and education, and on the daily needs of the family. “We don’t have to ask our husbands for money any more. We get our own money. It feels good. But we do not know for how long we will get it. There is always a sense that this will stop any minute,” says Shabnam Abdul Gaffar Shah, a 35-year old mother of five, in Mumbai’s Indiranagar.

The scheme helped buffer the shock of floods in Maharashtra’s Marathwada in 2025. It has helped in the empowerment of women, giving a boost to the rural economy, says Shinde.

He says they garnered this intelligence from the women. “We had formed a helpline to seek responses of women who were the early beneficiaries. It was astounding, the impact the scheme had. Shops started flourishing again. Women were seen to be spending primarily on healthcare, on children’s education, clothing,” he says.

Shinde says that while Madhya Pradesh’s Ladli Behna Yojana was their role model, the government drew inspiration from the success of its own scheme, Shasan Aplya Daari, which translates to government at your doorstep. Under this scheme, the government approached people with its schemes to increase the number of beneficiaries.

“We realised after the analysis of data that very few women were drawing benefits from government schemes. That is when we thought we needed to do something to increase the coverage of women,” he says. At the time, the Opposition had criticised the timing of the scheme, considering it came just before the Maharashtra elections.

As a pilot, the Mukhyamantri Mahila Sashaktikaran Abhiyaan or Chief Minister’s Women Empowerment Drive was launched in two districts of Maharashtra. It was withdrawn almost immediately due to technical issues, but was reintroduced after the government order was modified on October 6, 2023.

“Inspired by its success, we launched the Nari Shaktidoot app. Within one day, 50,000 women registered on it. When we saw that women were aware and interested in schemes, we worked to roll out this scheme in barely three months. After the announcement, 2.47 crore women enrolled themselves. It was a record, and a very satisfying process,” he said.

He added that he had prepared a list of 10 names, and that the then Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had liked and chosen the current name ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana’.

Mumbai:

The ruling BJP-led alliance is leading with a huge margin in Maharashtra and appears set to retain the state. As leads painted a favourable picture for the BJP, a heartwarming phone call between Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and his mother is going viral.

Mr Fadnavis is leading by a margin of more than 17,000 votes from Nagpur South West as of 12 pm. A video showed him speaking to his mother, Sarita Fadnavis, who called to congratulate him.

“I will come in the evening. I will finish everything here and come by evening. I will let you know. Thank you, give your blessings,” Mr Fadnavis was heard saying.

Maharashtra Election Results Live Updates Here.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Pravin Darekar demanded that Mr Fadnavis be the next Chief Minister as, he said, the party that secures the highest number of seats should be entitled to get the chief minister’s post.

The BJP is a key constituent of the ruling Mahayuti, comprising Chief Minister Eknath Shinde of Shiv Sena and NCP headed by his second deputy Ajit Pawar.

While the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP partnership banded under Mahayuti was leading in 218 of the 288 seats, indicating an apparent landslide win for the ruling alliance, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) was ahead in just 50, as per the latest Election Commission figures.

The data showed the BJP was ahead in 124 seats, close to the halfway mark of 144 on its own, while the Shiv Sena had leads in 56 and the NCP in 38. In contrast, the Congress was ahead in just 19, the Shiv Sena (UBT) in 18 and the NCP (SP) in 15.

If the ruling alliance indeed wins the elections, it would be a significant one as the party would overcome some of its reverses in the Lok Sabha elections.

In the elections, the BJP contested 149 assembly seats, Shiv Sena 81, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP contested in 59 constituencies. In the MVA combine, the Congress fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SP) put up 86 candidates.

Mumbai:

Zeeshan Siddique, the NCP candidate from Bandra East, voted today in the Maharashtra Assembly elections and said that it was the first time he came to a polling booth without his father Baba Siddique. Mr Siddique, a prominent NCP leader and former minister, was gunned down on October 12 near his son’s office by attackers allegedly linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

“For the first time, I have come alone to vote. My father is no more. This is different but this will have to be done. I know that my father is with me. I started my day by visiting the graveyard in the morning…I think everyone must vote,” Zeeshan Siddique said. 

#WATCH | “For the first time, I have come alone to vote. My father (Baba Siddiqui) is no more. This is different but this will have to be done”: Zeeshan Siddique

Video courtesy: ANI/X#Babasiddique#ZeeshanSiddique#MaharahstraElection2024pic.twitter.com/Ibfs5dWvWR

— NDTV (@ndtv) November 20, 2024

The 32-year-old former Congress leader faces Varun Sardesai, Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray’s nephew, in a high-stakes battle in Bandra East. Zeeshan Siddique joined the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP in October. Mr Siddique will defend the Bandra East seat he won in the 2019 election when he was with the Congress.

Maharashtra’s single-phase assembly elections saw polling begin at 7 am across 288 constituencies, with voting set to conclude at 6 pm. Over 9.7 crore voters are registered to choose among 4,136 candidates contesting this year, marking a 28 per cent rise from 2019’s 3,239 candidates.

The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance and the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are vying for control of the assembly. The Mahayuti includes the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), while the MVA brings together the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction).

Key figures in the elections include Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, contesting from Baramati against his nephew Yugendra Pawar, marking another compelling electoral contest.

Former Indian Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, actor Akshay Kumar and Rajkummar Rao are among the early voters in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024. The Bollywood celebrities stepped out of their homes early in the day to exercise their fundamental right to vote.

Sachin Tendulkar along with his wife Anjali and daughter Sara cast their vote at a polling booth in Mumbai. The trio showed their inked fingers to the media.

“I have been an icon of the ECI (Election Commission of India) for quite some time now. The message I am giving is to turn up and vote. It is our responsibility. I hope people will take that effort and come and vote. I urge everyone to come and vote.”

#WATCH | Mumbai: After casting his vote, Former Indian Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar says, “I have been an icon of the ECI (Election Commission of India) for quite some time now. The message I am giving is to vote. It is our responsibility. I urge everyone to come out and vote.”… pic.twitter.com/5FPTjA4SSx

— ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2024

Actor Akshay Kumar showed his inked finger after casting his vote for Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024.

While speaking to the media, Akshay Kumar made a clarion call to vote. Lauding the arrangements made at the polling booth, Mr Kumar said, “The arrangements for senior citizens are great. Cleanliness has been maintained. I want everyone to come out and cast their votes.”

#WATCH | Mumbai: Actor Akshay Kumar shows his inked finger after casting his vote for #MaharashtraAssemblyElections2024

He says “The arrangements here are very good as I can see that arrangements for senior citizens are very good and cleanliness has been maintained. I want… pic.twitter.com/QXpmDuBKJ7

— ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2024

Rajkummar Rao cast his vote at a polling booth in Gyan Kendra Secondary School, Mumbai. He urged citizens to do the “important” task – vote.

“It is our right in a democracy, so it’s important that we step outside and vote. I have performed my duty. It is your turn now. Please vote,” actor Rajkummar Rao said, while speaking to news agency Press Trust of India.

Actor and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt appealed to her fans to make their votes count. She wrote, “Go vote Mumbai. Go vote Bandra. Your vote matters.” 

Film directors Kabir Khan and Zoya Akhtar, actor Ali Fazal, and filmmaker and actor Farhan Akhtar too came out early to cast votes and fulfill their duty.

Voting for the single-phase Maharashtra assembly elections began at 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm. Polling is taking place across 288 assembly constituencies.

A total of 4,136 candidates are contesting the elections, including 2,086 independents.

Mumbai:

The voter count in Mumbai has crossed the one crore mark, up from 98.95 lakh during the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year, a civic official said.

At the time of the Lok Sabha polls, Mumbai had 98,95,602 eligible voters, including 25,16,667 in the island city and 74,64,974 in the suburban district, as per EC data.

The Maharashtra assembly polls are scheduled on November 20 and votes will be counted on November 23.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation chief Bhushan Gagrani said, “There are 1,02,29,708 voters in Mumbai for the assembly polls, comprising 25,43,610 in the island city and 76,86,098 in the suburban district. There are 54,67,361 men , 47,61,265 women and 1,082 are transgender persons.” “Of these, a total of 1,46,859 voters are above the age of 85 years and 23,928 are persons with disabilities. A total of 2,288 are overseas voters and 1,475 service voters,” said Gagrani, who is also Mumbai district election officer.

As per poll officials, a total of 2.91 lakh voters, including 53,372 in the island city and 2,37,715 in the suburban district, were added after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Besides, names of 43,020 voters were deleted, comprising 26,429 from the city and 16,591 from suburbs after the general elections.

Mumbai has 36 assembly constituencies –10 in the island city and 26 in the suburban district.

There are 410 candidates, including 105 in the island city and 315 in the suburban district.

A total of 10,117 voting booths have been set up, of which 2,538 are in the island city and 7,579 in the suburban district.

Speaking about security, Gagrani said the police department has presented a plan of deploying 25,696 personnel for the assembly elections in Mumbai.

“The city does not have any sensitive booth, though there are 76 critical polling booths out of a total of 10,117 voting booths at 2,085 locations. Of the 76 critical booths, 13 are in the island city and 63 in the suburban district,” he said.

As per poll officials, these booths have historically recorded less than 10 per cent of the average voter turnout in the past elections.

“In Mumbai, there will be 84 model polling stations, of which 38 each will be handled by women and young election staff. Eight will be handled by divyang staff,” Gagrani said.

Poll officials said the EC has acted upon 563 of 615 complaints filed through the C-Vigil app in Mumbai’s city and 564 of 623 in the suburban district.

In Mumbai city and suburban districts, eight cases each have been registered for poll code violations. Another 30 cognisable and non-cognisable offences have been registered, an official said.

“We have seized Rs 33 crore cash in the island city and Rs 12.60 crore in the suburbs. The value of precious metals seized in the city and suburban district stands at Rs 6.97 crore and Rs 238.67 crore, respectively. Besides this, freebies of Rs 2.62 crore and Rs 3.21 crore from the city and suburbs, respectively,” a poll official said.

Poll squads have seized 2,800 litres of alcohol valued at 12.89 lakh from the city and 39,385 litres of liquor costing Rs 1.10 crore from the suburban district.

Also, drugs of Rs 4.17 crore were seized from the city and of Rs 44.79 crore from the suburban district, the official said. 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly election, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi found himself under scrutiny as Election Commission officials inspected his bags upon his arrival at Amravati district today. This inspection, which took place just a day after a similar controversy over his helicopter being grounded in Jharkhand, has prompted Congress to accuse the poll body of unfairness.

Rahul Gandhi arrived in Dhamangaon Railway, one of the eight constituencies in Amravati district, to address a public rally ahead of the November 20 Assembly elections. Shortly after his helicopter landed, election officials approached the Congress leader’s team and searched his luggage as part of the Election Commission’s enforcement of the model code of conduct.

Watch: Election Commission officials inspected the helicopter of Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in Amravati, Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/cl2yx7dPp7

— IANS (@ians_india) November 16, 2024

A video circulating on social media captured the moment. Mr Gandhi stood nearby as officials checked his bags. After a few moments, he walked away to engage with his party colleagues.

Yashomati Thakur, a Congress MLA and former state minister, expressed outrage over the inspection and asked if the bags of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, or Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde were checked by poll officials. 

The incident comes on the heels of a similar controversy in Yavatmal, where Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray faced a bag inspection during his campaign. Mr Thackeray accused poll officials of selective enforcement. However, videos later emerged showing similar inspections for BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, Devendra Fadnavis, and Ajit Pawar.

The controversy, coupled with Friday’s grounding of Mr Gandhi’s helicopter in Jharkhand’s Godda, allegedly due to “protocol restrictions.” Congress leaders accused the BJP government of orchestrating the delay to hinder Mr Gandhi’s schedule, which included a rally marking the birth anniversary of tribal icon Birsa Munda.

According to Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, Mr Gandhi’s flight, scheduled for 1:15 pm, was delayed by nearly two hours due to the declaration of a no-fly zone for other political leaders. Mr Ramesh called the move a blatant violation of electoral fairness, accusing the BJP of using “petty tactics”.
 

On a tense night in 1989 in Mumbai, a mother and a child had to visit a hospital. There were restrictions on the roads due to violence in the area. With no transport available, a young auto-rickshaw driver, who lived in a chawl, drove the duo to the hospital. It’s a story etched in the memory of the neighbourhood where the auto-driver is believed to have spent decades of his life. 

Thirty-three years after risking his life that night, the man, Eknath Shinde, was sworn in as the 20th Chief Minister of Maharashtra. His wasn’t a meteoric rise. But when his moment came in July 2022, Mr Shinde seized it, successfully leading a rebellion against what was considered a stable Maha Vikas Agadhi government under Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray.  

Early Life And Education

Eknath Shinde was born into a Maratha family on February 9, 1964, in Dare village of Maharashtra’s Satara district. They later moved to Thane, a city on the outskirts of Mumbai, where he grew up. Mr Shinde attended Mangala High School & Junior College in Thane, studying up to class 11. He left school early to support his family financially and worked as an auto-rickshaw driver before joining politics. 

Eknath Shinde resumed his studies in 2014. In 2020, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University.

Entry To Politics

Eknath Shinde’s political journey began in the early 1980s when he was introduced to politics by Anand Dighe, the then-Thane Shiv Sena President. Initially, Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena’s agitation in the Wagle Estate area, where he emerged as a prominent labour leader. In 1984, he was appointed as Sakha Pramukh in Thane. Mr Shinde’s political ascent continued with his election as a corporator to the Thane Municipal Corporation in 1997, and his subsequent appointment as Leader of the House in 2001. 

He emerged as the heir to Anand Dighe’s legacy after the leader’s death in 2001. 

Political Career

Eknath Shinde’s success in local politics paved the way for his entry into the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. First elected to the Assembly in 2004, he was appointed as the Thane district head of Shiv Sena a year later. Over the years, Eknath Shinde’s political influence continued to grow, with his re-election to the Assembly in 2009, 2014 and 2019.

During his time in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Eknath Shinde held several key positions. From 2014 to 2019, he served as the minister for public works (public undertakings) and was also the guardian minister of Thane district. In 2018, he was appointed the Leader of the Shiv Sena in the Assembly. He was later appointed as the minister for public health and family welfare in 2019 and also served as the minister of urban development and public works and acting minister of home affairs in late 2019.  

Key Positions Held

• Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA): Eknath Shinde has been an MLA for the Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency since 2009.
• Cabinet Minister: He served as the PWD minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government (2014-2019).
• Leader of the Opposition: Eknath Shinde led the Shiv Sena legislature party in the Maharashtra Assembly.

Chief Ministership

During his time as a minister in Devendra Fadnavis’ first term as Maharashtra Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde is believed to have built closer ties with him. In 2022, he led a revolt within the Shiv Sena, pushing for a breakup of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance and a reestablishment of ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mr Shinde cited ideological differences and dissatisfaction with the Congress and NCP’s treatment of Shiv Sena. His grievances, shared by many within his party, led him to gather support from two-thirds of Shiv Sena’s MLAs. 

In June 2022, Eknath Shinde and several MLAs moved to Surat, Gujarat, triggering a political crisis. As a result, Uddhav Thackeray resigned as Chief Minister, and Eknath Shinde successfully formed a new government with the BJP. He was sworn in as the 20th Chief Minister of Maharashtra in June 2022, with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as Deputy Chief Minister.

Shiv Sena

After assuming the Chief Minister’s post, Eknath Shinde staked claim to the party name and symbols, feuding with Uddhav Thackeray. The matter was taken to court, and then the Election Commission of India recognised Mr Shinde’s faction as the official Shiv Sena. The Commission also criticised the amendments made to the party’s constitution under Uddhav Thackeray in 2018, deeming them undemocratic and unduly centralised.

On February 4, 2024, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled that Eknath Shinde’s faction was the “real Shiv Sena” political party. This decision dealt a major blow to Uddhav Thackeray.

Under Eknath Shinde’s leadership, the Shiv Sena managed to win only seven seats during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Uddhav Thackeray-led faction, on the other hand, won nine, hinting at a potential political renaissance ahead of the November Assembly elections.

Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024

Eknath Shinde is contesting the upcoming elections from his stronghold of Kopri-Pachpakhadi Assembly constituency in Thane on November 20. He will face Kedar Dighe, the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate and nephew of the late Anand Dighe, Mr Shinde’s mentor. 

Controversies

• In October 2024, the Eknath Shinde-led government received a legal notice from a Swiss firm over the alleged non-payment of dues for hospitality services rendered to its delegates during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. The notice sparked a political storm in the state and opposition leaders accused Mr Shinde’s government of financial mismanagement and overspending.
• In September, the Maharashtra CM and his government came under fire for the delay in capturing the culprits in the Badlapur sexual assault case. Eknath Shinde then courted controversy for defending the police, who killed Akshay Shinde, the man accused of sexually assaulting two young girls in Badlapur. The chief minister’s defence came despite the Bombay High Court raising questions over the custodial death of the accused, saying, “This cannot be termed an encounter”.
• Mr Shinde’s governance has also come under severe criticism over the law and order situation in the state. Just last month, prominent politician Baba Siddiqui, a member of the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) — a part of the ruling Mahayuti government in the state — was murdered on the streets of Mumbai.

Personal Life

Eknath Shinde is married to Lata Shinde. His son Shrikant Shinde, is an orthopaedic surgeon and has been a Member of Parliament for the Kalyan constituency since 2014.

Mumbai:

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar admitted that it was a mistake to field his wife Sunetra Pawar against his cousin Supriya Sule in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Ms Sule, daughter of NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar, had defeated Sunetra Pawar, representing the Ajit Pawar NCP faction, in the Baramati Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes.

“It was my mistake to field her against Supriya Sule, I have told you again and again. It is over now. On November 20 there is an election in Maharashtra and the voters will decide in whose hands Maharashtra should be given for five years. We are paying more attention to that,” Mr Pawar told NDTV. 

Mr Pawar said that his primary focus remains on campaigning in the constituencies allotted to the NCP under the Mahayuti (Grand Alliance). The 65-year-old said that despite occasional calls from alliance partners like the BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction to join their campaigns, he is prioritising NCP seats. “Right now, with only a few days left, I am concentrating on our constituencies and holding public rallies,” he said.

Nepotism In Politics

Mr Pawar said that political families have played a role in all major parties, from Congress to the BJP, Shiv Sena, and even the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). He argued that ultimately, it is the voters who decide whether a candidate from a political family deserves their support. 

READ | On Abuse Of Power Charge, Eknath Shinde’s “Have We Arrested Anyone” Counter

“The BJP speaks against nepotism, but in this election, both the Mahavikas Aghadi and the Mahayuti alliances have numerous candidates from political families. This trend has been part of Indian politics for decades. After we gained independence in 1947, the families who initially entered politics continued to hold influence. The Congress party dominated government for many years, bringing successive generations into its ranks,” Mr Pawar said. 

“Now, across all parties – whether Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), BJP, or even the MNS – family members of political leaders are running for office.  However, it’s ultimately the voters who decide. Regardless of family ties, voters support candidates they believe will work for the people,” he added. 

Electoral Confidence

Mr Pawar also expressed strong confidence in his own candidacy, claiming that he would “100 per cent” secure his seat in the upcoming assembly elections. Referring to the recent Lok Sabha elections, where a “sympathy factor” for Sharad Pawar influenced outcomes in Baramati, he stated, “This time, I am fully confident of winning my seat. I am certain of a 100 per cent victory.”

The Maharashtra assembly elections will decide the fate of 288 seats, with the Mahayuti coalition, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, facing off against the Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which includes the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP factions. The 2019 assembly polls saw the BJP emerge as the largest party with 105 seats, while the Shiv Sena won 56 and the Congress 44.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, the MVA gained ground, winning 30 out of 48 seats, while the Mahayuti coalition managed to secure 17. 

On the Maha Vikas Agahdi’s side, Congress Maharashtra chief Nana Patole, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, Congress leader and ex-Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, will discuss the MVA’s tussle for Chief Minister candidate, battlegrounds Baramati, Mumbai and common minimum programme for the MVA. Representing the farmers of Maharashtra, All India Kisan Sabha National President Ashok Dhawale will speak on the poll issues plaguing the community.

Mumbai:

Hitting out at the opposition in Maharashtra after Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Arvind Sawant made a derogatory remark against her, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) leader Shaina NC has said while the MP has apologised, another leader from the party, Sanjay Raut has justified the statement, revealing his “mentality”.

A day after a case was registered against Mr Sawant on the complaint of Shaina NC, who is the Shiv Sena candidate from South Mumbai’s Mumbadevi Assembly constituency, the MP apologised for the remark, saying it had been distorted. Speaking on the same day, Sanjay Raut, who is also a Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and a member of the Rajya Sabha, defended the statement, claiming the candidate from Mumbadevi had come from outside and was thus ‘imported’. He also pointed out that Shaina NC had switched from the BJP to the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena. 

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Shaina NC said, “Arvind Sawant called me ‘imported maal (goods)’ and the Mumbadevi MLA, Amin Patel, was smiling. Would Amin Patel have made this remark for his sister or wife? I want to ask the Uddhav Sena about Sanjay Raut’s statement that there is no need to apologise because I am imported. My family has been working in South Mumbai for three generations, I have also shown proof that I campaigned for Arvind Sawant between 2014 and 2019. I was your ‘Ladki Bahin’ then and have become ‘imported maal‘ now?”

“Mr Raut, if you don’t have any objection to words like ‘maal’, it shows your mentality. It is surprising that Mr Sawant apologised after 30 hours but Mr Raut is saying nothing wrong was said. So, what is the official stand of the ‘Maha Vinash Aghadi’ (a play on the opposition coalition Maha Vikas Aghadi)? What is the stand of Congress Maharashtra chief Nana Patole, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) President Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray,” she asked.

Shaina NC said with the Assembly elections due on November 20, discussions should be about the work that was done.

“The apology was made after a case was registered. Using the word ‘maal’ is objectification and it means that I am someone’s property, which I am not,” Shaina NC said, and went on to list schemes like ‘Ladki Bahin’ introduced for women under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. 

Earlier in the day, Arvind Sawant had said, “I have always been at the forefront of giving women their due respect. My remarks were distorted and I was deliberately targeted. This hurt me. Still, if my comments hurt anybody’s sentiments, I regret them and apologise. In my 55 years of public life, I have never insulted women”

Sanjay Raut, however, defended the remark. “There has been no insult. Arvind Sawant is our senior MP. He just said that the BJP candidate from Mumbadevi (Shaina NC) has come from outside… If she is an ‘imported maal’, how is this an insult to women… What did you say about Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi? You should go through history once…If a person from outside contests elections, people say that they have come from outside…There is no need to create such a big issue,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.