By Sinjini Mitra
On Tuesday, The Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis censured the legislators across the party lines for repeatedly mentioning the Chief Minister Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana during debates unrelated to the scheme, and warned the legislator against such behaviour which would result in any strict action.
The chief minister Fadnavis sharply stated from the legislative assembly that if this continued then the legislature would not be allowed to work which resulted in momentary surprise to the House. The remark came even as he cut off BJP MLA Abhimanyu Pawar, who had commented on the reference to the scheme while raising concerns about alleged illegal liquor distribution in the state.
This scheme is a flagship social initiative that provides ₹1,500 per month to all the eligible women aged 21–65 whose annual family income is under ₹2.5 lakh per annum. At this point, this scheme has become a recurring point of mention during every question hour in the assembly. The chief minister Fadnavis reminded the members that he had already directed them not to drag the scheme into discussions which are unrelated to it.
Earlier that day in the assembly, Congress MLA Jyoti Gaikwad had referred to the programme while debating the death of a female doctor in Phaltan, prompting the chief minister to reiterate his caution and which made him give a sharp response that this scheme will continue as it will not take away any funds or resources from any other programme.
Launched by the previous Maha Yuti government led by Eknath Shinde, the scheme has added a significant financial burden to the state financial reserves but it is widely believed to have played a key role in improving the performance of the alliance in the assembly elections of 2024.
While the Opposition has long criticised the Ladki Bahin scheme as a “vote-buying exercise”, there is always discontentment within the ruling alliance. During October 2025, NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal claimed that the scheme’s implementation has strained the finances of other governmental aid programmes.
Despite all the political clashes, Fadnavis said the government was committed to continuing the scheme, and insisted that legislators should refrain themselves from politicising it during routine Assembly discussions.