Mumbai:

The manifesto of the Maha Vikas Aghadi bloc of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Ajit Pawar) for the November 20 polls in Maharashtra aims to beat the Eknath Shinde government’s Ladki Bahin yojana for women and reach out to farmers and the youth.

The manifesto, which was launched today, laid down the agenda for the first 100 days if the Opposition bloc came to power. It promises an assistance of Rs 3,000 per month to women under the Mahalaxmi Yojana. This is more than the Rs 1,500 assistance to women under the Eknath Shinde government’s Ladki Bahin scheme, it is also more than the Rs 2,100 promised by the BJP in its poll manifesto, also released today.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi has promised to provide free bus travel to women, six cylinders at Rs 500 rupee rate, stronger laws to ensure women’s safety, free cervical cancer vaccine for girls in 9-16 years age group and two days of period leave every month.

To farmers, another key group as far as elections are concerned, the Maha Vikas Aghadi assured a high-level committee to stop farmer suicides and a better scheme for families of farmers who died by suicide. The bloc has promised to ensure farmers get the right price for their produce and said it will simply the crop insurance scheme.

Unemployed youth, the bloc said, will be given a monthly pension of Rs 4,000 and state scholarship schemes will be expanded.

The MVA manifesto also promised to expand the state’s health insurance policy. Under social justice, it promised a Caste Census in Maharashtra.

At the launch of the document, state Congress chief Nana Patole said it is not a manifesto but a vachan nama. “BJP and the alliance have betrayed the state for the last 10 years. They are talking about waiving farmers’ loans, why didn’t they do it when they were in power?” he asked.

Addressing the event, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the world looks at Mumbai and Maharashtra leads the country in social change. “This is a very important election, not just for turncoats, but one that will decide the future of the country. Only MVA can promise a stable government,” he said. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and NCP(SP)’s Supriya Sule was also present at the manifesto launch.

The turncoats jab was aimed at the Shiv Sena rebels whose mutiny split the party into two and brought down the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in 2022. Later, the Ajit Pawar camp’s rebellion split Sharad Pawar’s NCP too. In the 2019 election, the BJP and Shiv Sena were in an alliance. Now, the Sena has split and so has the NCP. So, in some ways, this is also an election where the rival factions will try to prove they are the ‘real’ party.

Listing the promises in MVA’s manifesto, the Congress chief took a swipe at the BJP. “When we were implementing it in Karnataka, they called it revdi, but are now promoting the same schemes.” On the caste Census, he said it was not aimed at dividing people, but to access data on their social position so that efforts can be made to improve it.