• Atul Londhe Patil

The BJP governments at both the Centre and the state level came to power making several bold claims. After becoming Prime Minister in 2014, Narendra Modi declared, “Neither will I engage in corruption, nor will I allow anyone else to do so.” However, the recent looting of the donation box at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya has exposed the reality behind the BJP government at the Centre. Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, leaders of the ruling parties have misappropriated funds meant for the ‘Ladli Behna’ (Beloved Sisters) scheme; this has been revealed by a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The people of the country—especially our mothers and sisters—have realized that those who could betray God are capable of betraying anyone. In my view, this recent CAG report is merely the tip of the iceberg.

The ‘Ladli Behna’ Scheme Before the Elections

Maharashtra’s Mahayuti government introduced the ‘Ladli Behna’ scheme just before the 2024 Assembly elections. In Maharashtra, it is referred to in Marathi as ‘Ladki Bahin’. The ruling parties in the state had suffered a major defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Consequently, to retain power in the Assembly elections, the Mahayuti alliance devised the ‘Ladli Behna’ scheme to woo female voters. The alliance also postponed the elections by a few months, allegedly to manipulate the voter list. My question is this: the government was well aware that it lacked the necessary funds and knew the dire state of the state’s finances. The then Finance Minister Ajit Dada Pawar—along with his secretaries and principal secretaries—had advised that Maharashtra’s financial condition could not sustain a fiscal burden of 44,000 crore. Despite this, the then Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the monthly allowance for women under the scheme would be increased from1,500 to `2,100. Funds under the ‘Ladli Behna’ scheme began to be distributed without even verifying the application forms. Activists from the ruling party were also involved in this. Now, women are being excluded based on various criteria. Some men were found among the beneficiaries, and some individuals hold government jobs. There were also people who, while already availing benefits from other schemes, also claimed the ‘Ladli Behna’ benefit. The primary question that arises is: why did the Mahayuti government betray these women? When the Aadhaar card requirement was introduced, 180,000 women were disqualified on the grounds that they were ‘over 65 years of age’. Did the Aadhaar cards not show their dates of birth? Did the Aadhaar cards submitted by these women and mothers not state their ages? The ‘Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana’ is a scheme that has been in operation since 1980. I state with great pride that whenever the Congress launched a scheme, it was never discontinued. If anyone was availing the ‘Ladli Behna’ scheme benefits improperly, why was the Maharashtra government unable to detect it—especially when the government claims to be high-tech and digital? Once the job is done, the relationship ends.

In Maharashtra, the BJP and its allies secured votes from women by leveraging the ‘Ladli Behna’ scheme, only to abandon them afterward; essentially, once the vote was cast, the relationship ended. Now, beneficiary women are being excluded from the scheme on various pretexts. In fact, up to 38% of women have already been removed—a precedent never seen before. I reiterate that this is merely the tip of the iceberg; a conspiracy is underway to exclude more than 50% of the women from this scheme in the near future. We contend that the betrayal by the Mahayuti government is deeply unfortunate. Can one really expect a woman who is looking forward to receiving 1,500 or2,100 per month to own a smartphone? A large number of women use basic phones that only handle incoming and outgoing calls, while many do not own a phone at all. While many schemes rely on fingerprint authentication, this particular scheme does not; this is because manual laborers often lose their fingerprints due to the nature of their work, making biometric verification impossible. Consequently, these women have been asked to complete the e-KYC (Electronic Know Your Customer) process. It has been stated that 62 lakh women failed to complete their e-KYC and were subsequently dropped from the scheme. Who is accountable for this? Initially, threats were issued claiming that all data had been handed over to the Income Tax Department—targeting income tax payers—and warnings were given that action would be taken against those claiming benefits fraudulently. How can such men be called ‘beloved brothers’? The saying, “Aisa koi saga nahi, jisko BJP ne thaga nahi,” (There is no one whom the BJP has not deceived) finds its greatest example here. Look at this form here—(the form’s format is displayed on the screen)—there is a CAPTCHA, right? Even educated, capable people often struggle with it; the CAPTCHA doesn’t match. Now, consider that this form is meant for a domestic worker—a woman who goes to people’s homes to wash dishes and do chores. For her, that `1,500 is crucial; it’s not something a wealthy woman or someone from an affluent household would be relying on. Just think about it: how is she supposed to decipher that CAPTCHA? How will she understand whether a letter is capitalized or lowercase? This is a conspiracy—a deceptive tactic employed by the BJP—to exclude 6.2 million (62 lakh) women from this scheme. The most remarkable thing is that the top boss of this government supposedly sent emails before email was even invented; he apparently used a digital camera before digital cameras had even been created. Such advanced people they are! They claim they will switch to e-papers and technology-based systems; they say they will do away with physical currency and introduce electronic or plastic money—there is no end to their claims! They talk about bringing in digital currency. Is it even plausible to believe that those making such promises lacked the necessary data? In other words, you deceived women under the guise of the ‘Ladli Behna’ scheme just to garner their votes, and once your objective was achieved, you promptly removed them from the list. While 38% is visible right now, there is a possibility that an even larger number of people could be excluded. For every scheme we introduced—such as the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana—there were established offices, systems, and procedures. Nowadays, however, the website for the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar scheme in Maharashtra is down; the focus has shifted to removing people rather than enrolling new ones. Apparently, the country has progressed so much and people have acquired so much wealth that they have no space left to store it—which is presumably why they are being dropped from the scheme. They claim to have lifted people out of poverty, yet this is a game being played through a conspiracy. It is a game played at the expense of the poor, women, and the destitute; a game that is currently underway, resulting in 6.2 million women once again becoming destitute on a massive scale. If one considers the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana alongside the Right to Food, it is evident that the BJP government is effectively kicking the very food out of the mouths of the poor. This data comes from the CAG—an institution that, like all others, has been subjugated by them. Each and every institution, constitutional institutions and democratic institutions has been subverted by this government. And through the CAG report, the aim is to highlight how they have unfairly benefited at the government’s expense.

Now, I wish to present another fact regarding how they engage in the ‘looting of offerings.’ We have witnessed this looting at the Ram Mandir, at the shrines of Bholenath, Nautiyal, Badrinath, and Kedarnath—they have turned it into a business. Religion and faith are being commercialized to exploit the people of the country. Let me place some facts before you.

A sum of 29,732 crore was sanctioned for the ‘Drawing and Disbursing Officers’ Virtual Personal Deposit Account,’ yet the actual expenditure incurred amounted to33,237 crore. So, when the sanctioned amount was 29,693 crore and the expenditure was33,237 crore, where did the remaining `3,541 crore go? This is the question raised by the CAG.

The government had no justification for this. It effectively meant they snatched the purses of women—of sisters—and reneged on the promise of 2,100. You brought nearly ten million ‘Ladli Behnas’ out of their homes, only to insult the very spirit of Rakhi. You were supposed to give the money on Raksha Bandhan, but instead, you disrespected the occasion and tarnished the sacred bond between brother and sister. You even backed out of the promise to provide2,100.

So, our primary demand is directed at Mr. Shinde and Mr. Devendra Fadnavis: after betraying everyone—consider the ‘missing link’ project, for instance; half of it was supposed to be a high-quality structure built for `3,500 crore, yet it collapsed and washed away within two months. It suffered from leakages—much like the leaks you might have seen at Bharat Mandapam, or at airports in Andaman & Nicobar or Delhi; the same kind of leakage occurred there. Yet, our Chief Minister says, “Defame me, say whatever you want about me, but do not defame Maharashtra, or else I will file an FIR.” Who is afraid of his FIRs? And isn’t it a disgrace to Maharashtra that there are ‘brothers’ here who betray their own sisters, despite knowing the full reality?

As I have said before, there is no one—not even their own—whom the BJP has not deceived; those who betrayed God have betrayed our sisters as well. Our demands are absolutely clear. Through you, I urge this predatory government—I demand directly from this predatory government—that they put a system in place for these 6.2 million (62 lakh) women. You established a system for the SIR—to delete people’s names and handle everything remotely—so why not do the same for their e-KYC? You should go to the homes of these 6.2 million eligible women; they must receive what is rightfully theirs first. Restore their rights. You have committed a wrong; you have deceived them. These 6.2 million women must receive their full dues.

How did men receive benefits? How did ineligible people get them? What kind of system was this? What were the orders? The bureaucracy cannot do this without government orders. So, who issued the orders? Did Eknath Shinde issue them? Did Devendra Fadnavis issue them? Or did the orders come from within the BJP or the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena machinery—saying, “Give it to whoever asks; we’ll deal with it later”? Action must be taken against them. Why do you always target the small fry? Go after the person who actually issued the orders.

So, this matter needs to be clarified as well. An inquiry involving the bureaucracy should bring these facts to light. This is our primary demand. If they continue to engage in such deception, we will not rest until we expose their true face to the public. They will have to face the consequences of their actions. First, return the money to the 6.2 million women; handle their e-KYC and registration yourselves. Put a system in place—systems do exist. You have ‘Patwaris’ and ‘Gram Sevaks’ at your disposal. You have the entire administrative machinery and all the necessary data—including Aadhaar details. Use all of this to restore the funds to these women, stop the fraud, and hold those responsible accountable by bringing them to justice. That is our demand.

The author is a Chief Spokesperson, Maharashtra Congress