Jairam Ramesh Criticizes Maharashtra Government Over Ladki Bahin Yojana Scheme

New Delhi [India], September 30: Congress General Secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh launched a strong attack on the Maharashtra government regarding the Ladki Bahin Yojana scheme. In a post on X, Ramesh cited a media report quoting Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who expressed concerns that the scheme could delay subsidy payments for other programs.

Ramesh stated, "After the landslide defeats faced by Mahayuti candidates across Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha Elections, the khokhe sarkaar's strategists came up with the Ladki Bahin Yojana to salvage their fortunes. It was a purely political ploy, introduced without any forethought or concern for the finances of the state. Now, Nitin Gadkari, a senior Union Minister, has admitted that Maharashtra is in such fiscal distress that it cannot pay out subsidies for other schemes."

He further alleged that due to an "emergency fund shortage," aid for families of farmers who died by suicide was cancelled and only restored after pressure from the Opposition. Ramesh highlighted that over 400 contractors to the PWD have remained unpaid for 15 months, Maharashtra's fiscal deficit has crossed Rs. 1 lakh crore, and the total debt burden has crossed Rs. 7 lakh crore, which is almost 20 percent of the state GDP and the second-highest in India. He noted that Maharashtra's GDP growth has slowed to just over 5 percent this year, while Telangana is growing at 13 percent, and Karnataka and Himachal are growing at 10 percent.

Sharpening his attacks on the Maharashtra government, Ramesh said that the Mahayuti is a government of horse-trading and backroom politics. "It does not have public legitimacy, nor does it have the ability to govern. It is a political alliance built on the shared interest of looting from the state's exchequer. They have overseen a decade where the once nation-leading state of Maharashtra has fallen behind other top-performing states. A landslide defeat awaits the Mahayuti. The incoming MVA Sarkar will restore Maharashtra's economic growth story, rescue it from fiscal mismanagement, and deliver on both existing subsidies and other commitments to Maharashtra's families," Ramesh said.