Shiv Sena fumes as NCP removes CM Shinde’s name from Ladki Bahin ads

Mumbai: A verbal duel has erupted between Shiv Sena and NCP leaders, part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, over the latest advertisements released by the Ajit Pawar-led party of the state government’s flagship ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana’.
The NCP not only removed the word ‘Mukhya Mantri’ (chief minister) from the advertisement but also called it ‘Ajitdada’s Ladki Bahin Yojana’ which resulted in Sena leaders pouring scorn on NCP.
The party has expressed its unhappiness over the move and says that NCP is trying to take all the credit for the scheme that has become popular as soon as it was declared by the Mahayuti government.
The Ladki Bahin scheme provides ₹1,500 per month to all women from 21 to 65 years of age. It was declared by Ajit Pawar while presenting the state budget as he also holds the finance portfolio. The scheme received tremendous response from women considering the direct cash being transferred to the bank of the beneficiaries. All three ruling allies were seen trying to take credit for the popular scheme.
In the series, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has released two advertisements in which the party tried to project that it was Ajit Pawar who brought the scheme for women that costs the state exchequer ₹46,000 crore annually.
In one advertisement, a man asks his daughter where she got a new dress and she replies saying Ajit Dada. “Dada”, is an honorific Marathi term meaning “elder brother” and Ajit likes to be called as ‘Dada’. In another advertisement, a wife requests his husband to sign a form which turns out to be a form for subscribing to a joint fixed deposit scheme. To his surprise, the man asks his wife from where she got this amount. She replies with a big smile saying “Ajit Dada gave us.” Moreover, in the backdrop, the voiceover artist also says, “Ajit Dadanchi Ladki Bahin Yojana.” (Ajit Pawar’s Ladki Bahin Yojana).
The advertisements have ruffled feathers in the ruling coalition as Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat said that such attempts create misunderstanding among the three parties which need to be avoided. “Even if the chief minister is the head of all the ministers, he did not insist on naming the scheme after him. The credit of the scheme goes to him, Ajit Pawar, Fadnavis and all the other ministers because it was approved by all of them,” Shirsat said expressing his ire and requesting the NCP leaders not to indulge in things that create misunderstanding among the ruling allies.
He then suggested the NCP workers put up big posters of their leaders. “But when we make changes in the name of a government scheme then it results in a problem,” he said, making it clear that it did not go down well with his party.
NCP clarified that they have not changed the name of the scheme. Dhananjay Munde, who is the chief NCP spokesperson and state agriculture minister said, “The scheme is in the name of the chief minister. However, in the individual campaign, the parties tend to take advantage in their own way,” Munde told reporters. He also said that the scheme will always be part of the Mahayuti alliance.
The opposition attacked the ruling parties over infighting for taking credit for the scheme that was brought by using public money. “In order to take its maximum benefit, all the three ruling parties are fighting against each other and trying to take credit for the scheme that is running by using public money,” said Vijay Wadettiwar, Leader of the opposition in the state assembly.