Maharashtra Election Result: Schemes like Majhi Ladki Bahin played major role in Mahayuti win, says Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Saturday that schemes like Mahjhi Ladki Bahin played a major role in the Mahayuti alliance's victory in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls. His remarks came on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party and its allies—known as the Mahayuti alliance—returned to power as the final verdict in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election. 

"Victory of public opinion, victory of democracy... Victory to truth, victory to all religions with equality," Pawar wrote on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter).

"Ktitagya (grateful)," mentioned Pawar's 165-word post (written in Marathi) on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter).

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti coalition includes the Shiv Sena party (Eknath Shinde faction) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction). The BJP won 132 Assembly constituencies, the Shiv Sena (Shinde) bagged 57 and the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) secured 41, according to official data from the ECI website (results.eci.gov.in). 

Maharashtra is the richest state in India, contributing about 15 per cent to the country's overall gross domestic product (GDP). 

विजय जनमताचा, विजय लोकशाहीचा..!
विजय सत्याचा, विजय सर्वधर्म समभावाचा..!

मी महाराष्ट्राच्या जनतेचे आणि विशेषतः माझ्या बारामतीकरांचे हृदयपूर्वक आभार मानतो..!

'न भूतो न भविष्यति' असा हा ऐतिहासिक विजय आज राष्ट्रवादी काँग्रेस पार्टीने आणि महायुतीनं मिळवला आहे. मी राष्ट्रवादी… pic.twitter.com/FJQDzOOEPx

— Ajit Pawar (@AjitPawarSpeaks) November 23, 2024

"Some of the schemes like Ladki Bahin yojana have played a major role in our victory," Pawar told reporters, according to news agency ANI.

Thanking the electors "for once again giving me this responsibility", Pawar promised to continue working for the state's development for the next five years. 

What is Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana?

In August, the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP coalition government launched the Ladki Bahin scheme to provide financial aid of Rs 1,500 per month to women with an annual family income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh.

Chief Minister Shinde later announced an increase in the assistance to Rs 2,100.

Maharashtra Assembly Election | How did Mahayuti alliance leaders fare? 

Pawar won the Baramati Assembly seat with 1,81,132 votes, defeating the NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar party's Yugendra Pawar by 1,00,899 votes, according to ECI data.

Among other prominent winners from the alliance were the BJP's Devendra Fadnavis and the Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde. Fadnavis secured 1,29,401 votes to win the Nagpur South West seat against the Indian National Congress (INC) party's Prafulla Vinodrao Gudaghe by a margin of 39,710 votes, whereas Shinde emerged victorious in Kopri-Pachpakhadi with 1,59,060 votes against the Shiv Sena-UBT's Kedar Prakash Dighe, who received 38,343 votes, the data showed. 

ALSO READ: Election Results Full Lists of Winners: BJP-led Mahayuti stages landslide victory in Maharashtra, JMM+ wins in Jharkhand

Earlier that day, while addressing a press conference alongside Chief Minister Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis, Pawar acknowledged the increased responsibility this victory brings.

Pawar also emphasised the need for financial discipline in delivering on their promises.