Right at the beginning of this week, a delegation of women leaders from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) reached Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai to meet the governor of Maharashtra. The delegation was first stopped by the security at the Raj Bhavan gates, but after some commotion, it was later allowed to go inside.
The delegation raised issues related to women's security in the state, both financial and physical. This comes in the wake of rising dowry-related crimes in the state, which have suddenly seen a spike in the last fortnight or so.
For the government, which got the majority in the state assembly mainly on the basis of the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for women, called the Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana, this comes as a challenge. After a dowry-related death in a politically active family in Pune district, a series of similar such cases are now coming to light across the state.
For Chief Minister Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, this is highly damaging, as their main pitch in the latest assembly elections was portraying themselves as "the brother who defends his beloved sister"!
The issue has been played up by the media and the opposition parties to highlight how women's safety in the state is in tatters. A few years ago, a similar campaign was taken up by the BJP-led opposition when many cases of rape and violence against women were reported in parts of Maharashtra.
The BJP had got very aggressive over the issue and claimed that if voted to power, they would make security and legal provisions in such a manner that the culprits would face instant action.
Now with the BJP-led Mahayuti government in power since 2022, critics feel not much has changed in terms of safety for women, especially in smaller towns and the hinterland.
The delegation of the MVA, comprising some very vocal women, such as Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushama Andhare and former Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, claimed that the State Women's Commission and its head from Ajit Pawar's NCP party, appointed by the Mahayuti government, have not done anything effectively to ensure the protection of women, who may be facing various kinds of threats right from eve-teasing to rape to dowry demands from their in-laws.
Sushama Andhare claimed that the state and its law enforcement have failed in instilling a sense of confidence among women, especially in the backward areas of Maharashtra.
The problem is compounded by the failure of the Mahayuti government in implementing the Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana appropriately. It has now suddenly come to light that lakhs of women all over Maharashtra, who have been receiving financial assistance from the state government under the scheme, are actually not eligible to receive these funds, and that their names will have to be removed from the list of beneficiaries in the coming weeks!
In Pune district itself, there are thousands of names in the list of beneficiaries who own a car. One of the conditions for eligibility was that the beneficiary or her family member should not own a car (any kind of four-wheeler) in the household. In some other districts it has transpired that some women working in government offices have been included in the list.
Maharashtra Deputy CM, who also holds the finance portfolio, openly admitted that there had been a huge mistake while preparing the list of beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana. Over two crore women have got monthly financial assistance under the scheme announced ahead of the last elections.
Now that lakhs of names will be removed from the list, it will not only cause great embarrassment for the Mahayuti government, but will also cost them politically, as those removed from the list will carry resentment against the ruling coalition, and that will impact the upcoming civic polls in the state.
Whether it is the anger over the rising cases of violence against women or the resentment over their exclusion from the list of beneficiaries of Direct Benefit Transfer schemes like Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana, the Mahayuti is set to face political trouble in the upcoming civic elections.
Of course, what’s most crucial in the current political scenario is whether the opposition is able to take advantage of the situation. The opposition, which is currently in a weak position, has a big opportunity to bounce back in the civic polls if they are able to garner support from voters over these issues.
Rohit Chandavarkar is a senior journalist who has worked for 31 years with various leading newspaper brands and television channels in Mumbai and Pune.
