Targeting the Maharashtra government over its Ladki Bahin scheme, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule on Sunday accused the ruling dispensation of being "extremely selfish" and seeing the brother-sister relationship through the "prism of money".
Addressing a party rally in Dhule district, Sule claimed the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, aimed at providing financial assistance to women in the state, has been launched because of the Lok Sabha poll "shock" for the ruling Mahayuti, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi, consisting of the Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT), trounced the Mahayuti alliance in the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year by bagging 30 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, with the BJP losing 14 constituencies of the 23 it won in 2019.
The state assembly polls are due later this year.
Sule said Rs 200 crore was being spent for the promotion and advertising of the Ladki Bahin scheme.
If the money was given to ASHA (accredited social health activist) workers, it would have sustained them for next 10 years, she said.
"Women tell me that more than the Ladki Bahin scheme, they want good MSP (minimum support price) for soybean and cotton, jobs for the unemployed and a check on inflation. An ASHA worker said a GR (government resolution) is yet to be issued for a salary hike announced for them," Sule said.
The state government has not understood what women want, the NCP (SP) Rajya Sabha member said.
"This is an extremely selfish government. It sees the brother-sister relationship through the prism of money," Sule charged.
"You have to take a decision on whether you want a government elected by the people or the one which has come by breaking two political parties," she said.
Sule claimed that the state assembly elections, due in October this year, were being postponed to November because the government was scared.
"A strong and stable MVA government will provide adequate MSP for your crops and resolve your pending water issues," she said to the gathering which also comprised women and farmers.
"Take the Ladki Bahin scheme money, because it is your own money, and spend it. No one will take it back from you," the NCP (SP) working president said.
Sule said the Ladki Bahin scheme has been launched because of the Lok Sabha poll "shock" for the government.
"The government is going around the state with only one scheme. Ask me how much Ladki Bahin (dear sister) I was before the Lok Sabha elections," she quipped in a veiled reference to her estranged cousin and NCP leader Ajit Pawar.
Make Maharashtra free from corruption and inflation by voting for the MVA, Sule said to the gathering.
