Mumbai:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday took a dig at the opposition, especially his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray, and said those born with a golden spoon will not realise the value of Rs 1,500, the amount the state government is giving to underprivileged women per month under a new welfare scheme.

Addressing an event in Mumbai’s Chandivali area, Mr Shinde said the opposition has described the Mukhya Mantri Ladki Bahin Yojana as “deceptive and a false assurance”, but the scheme has received an overwhelming response from women.

Nearly 2 crore women filled the form for availing benefit under the scheme and 1.5 crore eligible among them have received the stipend of Rs 1,500 promised by the Mahayuti government, informed the CM.

“The opposition makes fun of the scheme that they (the government) are giving bribes (through this scheme). Those born with a golden spoon will not understand the value of Rs 1,500. The value of Rs 1,500 will be known to my ‘ladkya bahini’ (dear sisters),” he said, in an apparent reference to Shiv Sena (UBT) president Mr Thackeray, whose party has been critical of the scheme.

Mr Shinde insisted the moment the first tranche was credited to the bank account of beneficiaries, the opposition was proved wrong.

“After the amount was credited, the opposition spread rumours that money will be taken back. But this government is the one that gives and not takes,” Mr Shinde maintained.

The opposition has dubbed the scheme, which will cost the state exchequer Rs 46,000 crore a year and is targeted at financially disadvantaged women aged 21 to 65 years, as financially unviable. It has also termed the monthly stipend as “paltry”.

He urged women beneficiaries to “strengthen the hands of the government” which will help it to increase the monthly amount going forward.

If the government’s strength is increased, the stipend amount will be doubled, declared Mr Shinde in comments aimed at wooing women voters ahead of the assembly polls which are likely to be held in November.

Shinde pointed out that some people in the opposition event went to the court to stall the scheme, but their attempts to stop it roll-out in August proved futile.

The Shiv Sena leader said ahead of polls, the opposition spreads rumours that Mumbai will be separated from Maharashtra, but this will never happen.

“No one can break Mumbai from Maharashtra,” Shinde declared.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray returned empty-handed from Delhi as he could not extract an assurance of being the MVA’s chief ministerial face for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls, the BJP said on Friday.

Mr Thackeray, during his three day visit to the national capital, met Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Thursday, and Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge a day earlier. Mr Thackeray, who was accompanied by his wife Rashmi and son Aditya, returned to Mumbai late Thursday evening.

After three days in Delhi, Mr Thackeray had to return empty-handed though he was hoping to reclaim the chief minister’s post, BJP stat chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye told reporters here.

“Forget about anything for Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief could not get anything for himself. To fulfil his ambition of becoming chief minister, he continued to push his case in Delhi but has returned empty handed,” Mr Upadhye claimed.

Mr Thackeray was disappointed after senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan announced that a decision on the chief minister will be taken after the assembly polls, Mr Upadhye further claimed.

The Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) have announced they will fight the state polls together as the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

“The self esteem of Uddhav Thackeray and his Shiv Sena (UBT) has been shattered during his Delhi tour as the Congress sent a clear signal that it would be the ‘big brother’ in the seat allocation discussions,” Mr Upadhye said.

Then BJP president Amit Shah had visited Matoshree, Mr Thackeray’s residence in Bandra, out of sheer respect ahead of the 2019 assembly polls and agreed to give his party 125 seats, Upadhye said.

“But now you have to bow before the Congress to get 100 seats to contest. What did you get with your Delhi tour if you could not get even 100 seats,” the BJP leader said in a swipe at Thackeray.

The Mahayuti (ruling alliance) is making sincere efforts to resolve the quota issue in the state and citizens expected Thackeray to discuss it with senior MVA leaders during his Delhi tour, he said.

“However, this expectation was ruined. This shows Mr Thackeray was in Delhi for his personal political interest and not for Maharashtra or its people,” Mr Upadhye alleged.

Thackeray was chief minister between 2019 and June 2022 before a rebellion by then minister Eknath Shinde split the Shiv Sena and brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Mr Shinde went on to become CM with the support of the BJP. NCP leader Ajit Pawar joined the ruling alliance in July last year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Pune:

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday mounted a scathing attack on opposition stalwart and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and dubbed him the leader of corruption in the country.

Addressing the BJP’s state convention in Pune, he also slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for displaying arrogance despite loss in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and called Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray the head of the Aurangzeb fan club who was sitting with people that sought clemency for 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon.

He said the BJP-led Mahayuti will do better in the Maharashtra assembly polls than what the party did in the 2014 and 2019 editions.

“Sharad Pawar institutionalized corruption,” the senior BJP leader said in Pune.

Asserting that people of India gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi their stamp of approval in recent Lok Sabha elections, Shah said the arrogance of Rahul Gandhi will be crushed after “we win forthcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana”.

Attacking the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief, Shah said, “Uddhav Thackeray is sitting with those who sought clemency for 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon.” “Who is the Aurangzeb fan club? Those who serve biryani to (26/11 terror attack convict) Kasab, those who seek clemency for Yakub Memon, those who give (controversial Islamic preacher) Zakir Naik a messenger of peace award and those who support the (banned Islamist outfit) PFI. Uddhav Thackeray should be ashamed of sitting with these people,” Shah asserted.

Praising BJP workers, Shah said they should not get perturbed by the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra (where the party’s tally went down from 23 in 2019 to nine in 2024), adding that they could revive themselves in the state polls by taking the good work and welfare schemes of the government to the masses.

“Every BJP worker from Maharashtra has taken efforts in the party’s victory. The BJP-led alliance will perform better in ensuing Maharashtra assembly polls than it did in 2019 and 2014. We will work harder and set new goals for ourselves. The saffron must rise again in Maharashtra,” Shah asserted.

He praised Pune as the city of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the land that gave the country the slogan “Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)