'Ladki Bahin Yojana taking away all funds...': Nitin Gadkari puts Maharastra govt in spot ahead of polls

Mumbai: Mumbai: Union Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, often known for calling a spade a spade, has once again put the BJP in an uncomfortable position. 

Gadkari, a three-time MP from Nagpur, who is considered close to BJP’s fountainhead, had spoken out on the 'Mukhya Mantri Ladki Behin Yojana', a cash-benefit scheme launched ahead of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. 

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is the chief leader of the Shiv Sena and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis, who calls the shots for the BJP and Ajit Pawar, who is the NCP President are banking heavily on the flagship scheme to return to power in this western Indian state.

At a function in Nagpur, Gadkari advised industries to not rely much on subsidies and grants, saying that there was no guarantee about the funds coming from the government which also needed money for schemes like Ladki Bahin Yojana. 

"Do not get into its mess. You can take whatever subsidy you want, but there is no assurance of when you will get it, whether you will get anything or not," he said, adding: “…. my son came and said that he has received Rs 450 crores in subsidy and tax money is deposited. He asked (me) when he would get the subsidy. I told him to pray to God because there is no assurance. Will you get it, it is possible….(but) the Ladli Behan Yojana has just started, so the subsidy money has to be given to them for their work, naturally, it has got stuck." 

While the Maha Yuti is stunned with the comments, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi slammed the ruling alliance. 

Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh, who is AICC’s General Secretary in-charge Communications, said 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 said.

Speaking about the fiscal mismanagement, he said: “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).”

According to him, the Maha Yuti is a Government of horse-trading and back room 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,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Baramati MP and NCP (SP) Working President Supriya Sule said: “It is the duty of the government to ensure that no malpractice occurs while implementing a scheme. But the government does not seem to have taken any such care in the case of 'Ladki Bahin Yojana', which was implemented in haste keeping the elections in sight. Therefore, it seems that this amount is going to waste without many eligible beneficiaries benefiting from this scheme.”

In September, this is the third time Gadkari's comments have not gone down well in the party. 

“"I remember one incident... I won’t name anyone. That person told me ...'if you are going to become the Prime Minister, we will support you…I told the leader that I am a man who follows one ideology and a certain conviction. I am in a party which has given me everything which I never even dreamt of,” he said on 15 September in Nagpur.

“Everyone should be free to express their opinions and those in power should tolerate criticism,” he said in Pune on 20 September.