MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, while addressing a rally in Dhule where he laid the foundation stones of various projects in Sakri taluka of the district, targeted the opposition parties, accusing them of spreading rumours about his government's flagship 'Ladki Bahin' scheme for women, further adding, "We do not work with elections in mind. Our aim is only to benefit the citizens of the State, and we are committed to the cause."

He said that the scheme, which was aimed at empowering women financially and had received a tremendous response from the people, especially the women, had unnerved the opposition parties, leading them to spread rumours about it. He further warned them to be cautious, referring to them as 'savatra bhau' (stepbrothers), who spread all kinds of rumours about the Ladki Bahin scheme. "So far, I have only had one sister. Now, I have got lakhs of sisters across the state," CM Shinde said.

Just a few months before the state assembly elections, Shinde's government announced the 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana', which means 'Chief Minister's My Beloved Sister Scheme', under which eligible women will be given financial assistance of Rs 1,500 every month.

This scheme is much in line with the idea of former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan's ‘Ladli Behna Yojana,’ launched by the MP government before the MP state assembly elections in January 2023, to promote the welfare of the state’s women. Under this scheme, women are provided with financial assistance to help them become financially independent, receiving a monthly transfer of Rs. 1,250 to their bank accounts on the 10th of every month. The Bharatiya Janata Party won the assembly elections with a thumping majority, largely attributed to this scheme.

Speaking on Friday in Thane, his home turf, during an event held on the occasion of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples or World Tribal Day, CM Shinde said that the state government had made a provision of Rs 45,000 crore for the Ladki Bahin scheme, and added that there was no doubt the scheme would remain operational in the future as well. He also reiterated that the first instalment of two months under the scheme would be credited into the accounts of eligible women on August 17, 2024. Describing tribal people as honest and hard-working, the chief minister said the government has rolled out several schemes and programmes for their welfare.