Maharashtra polls | It’s raining sops as MVA, Mahayuti woo electorate in race for power

With hardly a couple of weeks left for voting in Maharashtra Assembly elections, rival alliances – Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and Mahayuti – have announced a slew of sops to woo the electorate, focusing on women, unemployed youth and farmers.

Sounding poll bugle at Maharashtra Swabhiman rally at BKC ground in Mumbai on Thursday, the MVA also promised to conduct a caste census in the state if elected to power, and remove the 50% cap on reservations if elected to power at the Centre.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the contemporary politics in the country is a fight between the ideologies of the RSS/BJP and Opposition’s INDIA grouping.

“The BJP doesn't say publicly that it wants to finish off the Constitution, but it is working discreetly to weaken it. While appointing vice-chancellors of universities across the country, the only qualification is membership of the RSS,” he said.

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MVA unveils five guarantees

Seeking to outdo the ruling Mahayuti alliance, the MVA on Wednesday promised Rs 3,000 per month and free travel on state transport buses for women under the Mahalaxmi Yojana.

Under the Krishi Sammruddhi Yojana, farmers will get loan waiver up to Rs 3 lakh and Rs 50,000 as an incentive for regular repayment of crop loans.

Allowance of Rs 4,000 per month for unemployed youth, a health insurance of up to Rs 25 lakh for all and free medicines were the other “guarantees” announced at a gathering addressed by top MVA leaders.

The MVA also announced that it will conduct a caste census in Maharashtra, if voted to power. Justifying his demand for caste census, Rahul said Dalits constitute 15 per cent of population and tribals eight per cent, but the exact numbers of backward classes are not known.

The Mahayuti regime currently pays Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women under its Ladki Bahin Yojana and has promised to increase the amount to Rs 2,100.

Mahayuti’s push for power

The MVA’s guarantees came just a day after the Mahayuti announced a bunch of sops. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde released the Mahayuti’s 10-point guarantee list titled ‘Kiya hai kaam bhari…ab aage ki taiyari’ in their first joint rally in Kolhapur on Tuesday in the presence of Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.

Among the key promises, Mahayuti plans to increase financial aid under Ladki Bahin from existing Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,100 per month, farm loan waiver and an increase in the annual payment under the Shetkari sanman scheme from Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000. Additionally, a 20% subsidy will be provided on minimum support price (MSP) for agricultural produce.

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Among other key promises are: Ensuring access to food and shelter for every individual in need; increasing senior citizen pension from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,100 per month; employment and educational aid for students; creation of 25 lakh jobs, with a monthly tuition aid of Rs 10,000 for 10 lakh students through specialised training programs; increasing monthly wages to Rs 15,000 and providing security coverage for Anganwadi and ASHA workers; and committing to bring about major changes within 100 days of taking office to achieve a transformative vision for Maharashtra by 2029.

Sops after LS poll defeat

Interestingly, the Mahayuti regime launched populist schemes only after the drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections. Realising that it had little time to set its house in order for the Assembly elections after bagging only 17 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats, the Mahayuti focused its efforts towards promoting government schemes and luring various segments including women, youngsters, farmers, micro communities and other backward classes.

The Mahayuti regime announced six populist schemes in the state budget on June 28 for which it allocated a budget of Rs 96,000 crore a year. Over Rs 12,000 crore was earmarked for the Annapurna scheme, which assured free gas cylinders to over 60 lakh families in a year. Other schemes included a stipend ranging between Rs 6000 and Rs 10,000 for youngsters, electricity bill waiver for farmers and free pilgrimages for senior citizens.

Subsequently, in its six cabinet meetings, the government took a series of populist decisions, most of them related to the constitution of various boards and corporations associated with micro-communities and welfare schemes for Jains and Muslims. The government also ensured various communities were represented in the legislative council and Rajya Sabha.

The Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana provides three free cooking gas cylinders per year for 52 lakh families. The Mukhyamantri Baliraja Vij Sawalat Yojana offers free electricity to agricultural pumps with capacities under 7.5 horsepower. This covers 44 lakh farmers.

Fiscal deficit increasing

However, the Mahayuti government’s overdrive to appease voters ahead of the Assembly elections with populist schemes and big-ticket infrastructure projects has set the alarm bells ringing for the state’s economy. The finance department recently pointed out that the fiscal deficit of the state has crossed a whopping Rs 2 lakh crore.

The department made this observation last month when the proposal of three infrastructure projects in Mumbai and Thane were tabled for approval in the state cabinet. The finance department did not mince words as it underscored the strain this would cause on the state’s budgetary health.

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According to the department, the state’s fiscal deficit stood at ₹1.10 lakh crore when the budget was presented in June by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar who also holds finance portfolio. However, it has now escalated to Rs 2.04 lakh crore owing to the supplementary demands, which were tabled for the estimated expenditure of ₹96,000 crore on various sops, including Ladki Bahin and Annapurna schemes, and offering stipend of up to ₹10,000 to over 10 lakh youths, among others.

“According to the Fiscal Policy and Budget Management Act, the state cannot raise more than 3% of the debt of its GDP (which is ₹42,67,771 crore). There is restriction on raising the debt and at this given rate of the revenue, it will be difficult for the government to overcome the fiscal deficit. Taking this into consideration, the state government cannot be given permission to take more financial burden,” the finance department stated.

“The finance department had already raised the red flag when populist schemes, such as Ladki Bahin, were announced. At the time it had said that it would be difficult for them to release funds even for the mandatory expenditures like salaries and pensions of employees,” media reports quoted an official from the finance department as saying.