Freebies and promises made for electoral gains before the Assembly polls by the Mahayuti alliance are becoming slow-tightening nooses around the partners’ necks.
Last year, the Maharashtra government generously announced a slew of freebies before the Assembly polls. Those decisions helped the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP win a mammoth mandate — 233 of the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra. But, things that propelled their comeback to power have now started straining the finance department and eventually turning out to be one of the reasons for the rift and widening of the gap between the Mahayuti alliance partners.
Within the first six months of government formation, ministers from Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s camp on several occasions accused Finance Minister Ajit Pawar of slashing funds for their departments. But, circumstances are such that the “triple-engine sarkar” has no choice but to exhibit cohesiveness for another four-and-a-half years, a long and challenging journey.
In fact, with resources stretched thin, tensions are rising behind the scenes. While monetary assistance given to women under the government’s flagship programme is R1500 per month, many big-ticket promises like increasing the Ladki Bahin scheme assistance to Rs 2100 per month and announcing loan waivers for farmers, are still pending. At some point in the next few years, the government will have to fulfil these commitments or face the wrath of the people and the Opposition.
The day this government announces the implementation of these promises, it is obvious it will result in additional strain on the state treasury and leave no option for the Mahayuti government but to cut expenditure and apply the brakes on spending to bridge the widening gap between revenue receipts and expenditure.
Already, debt is skyrocketing, and any further freebies or schemes to woo voters would add to the strain.
In March, Pawar presented the 11th state budget. According to documents tabled, the state’s total debt stock is expected to reach R9.32 lakh crore in the fiscal year 2025-26. In 2024-25, the actual debt stood at Rs 8.39 lakh crore as against the projected Rs 7.8 lakh crore. Although Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Pawar claim that debt is well within prescribed norms and limits.
But recently, development funds meant for other crucial departments were diverted from the social justice and tribal welfare departments to ensure the continuation of payments under the Ladki Bahin scheme, making it obvious that the government is staring at a liquidity crisis.
The real challenge for the BJP, Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Mahayuti government is not just governance, but holding the alliance together under mounting fiscal and political pressure.
For veterans like Pawar and Fadnavis, the situation may not be new. In fact, for Pawar, this is business as usual, as for him (except for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance government between 2014-19), he has faced similar charges of slashing funds almost every time he has held the finance portfolio.
Whether it was during the Congress-NCP regime (prior to the 2014, BJP-Shiv Sena undivided saffron government), the MVA, or the current Mahayuti, ‘Dada’ has always been accused by alliance partner MLAs or ministers of not releasing enough funds for development in their respective constituencies. Despite these allegations, Pawar has managed to bag the crucial department, irrespective of which government is at the helm of affairs. But for Eknath Shinde-camp ministers and MLAs, one thing has remained constant, be it their tenure with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), or the current Mahayuti — alleged step-motherly treatment by Pawar when it comes to the distribution of development funds.
Many ministers from the Shinde camp (most of them who are first-time ministers) have complained about “biased treatment” by Pawar, and this is not just about fund flow, but also political marginalisation.
Pawar’s decisions, though, indicate that he has the backing of Fadnavis, at least the former’s reply to the allegations exhibits that. Speaking to the media, Pawar stated that “files for allocation of funds go through the chief minister, too”.
As Fadnavis-Pawar seem to be in the loop and Shinde out of sync, the internal standoff over allocation of funds between the Mahayuti alliance partners has shifted from whispering complaints in political corridors to open allegations by the Shinde camp.
While Shinde camp leaders might be feeling like history is repeating itself, there is very little their leader can do at this stage as the political situation is very different from what it was in 2022 when Shinde had rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray over various reasons, including that of Pawar ignoring Sena MLAs while distributing development funds.
While the last time Shinde had the full backing of the BJP to launch his revolt against Thackeray, this time the tables have turned, and Shinde does not have enough manoeuvring opportunities.
The only option for the former chief minister is to ask Fadnavis to mediate and resolve the issue or be a mute spectator to a game he once led.
Sanjeev Shivadekar is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @SanjeevScribe
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