Mahayuti govt committed sin of fixing price for sisters' love: Sule

NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule on Friday hit out at the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra over its flagship 'Ladki Bahin' scheme, accusing it of committing the sin of fixing a price for sisters' love. She said leaders in the government remembered their sisters only after the Lok Sabha elections.

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP) performed better than the ruling alliance in the state in the parliamentary elections. The Eknath Shinde-led government comprising Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP has introduced the 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana' to provide a financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women. The government will formally launch the scheme on August 17 by transferring the first instalment to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

Speaking at the meeting of the opposition bloc MVA here, she said, "There is no money involved in the emotion of love. But the state government has linked the brother-sister relationship to electoral politics. The Mahayuti government committed the sin of fixing a price for sisters' love." "When money and relationships are mixed, the relationship does not remain intact any longer," she said.

Her remarks were apparently targeted at Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, her estranged cousin who split the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founded by her father Sharad Pawar. Ajit Pawar and his loyalist MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde-led government in July last year.

Recalling her experience of the Lok Sabha election, Sule said, "Since I was the most favourite sister, all attention was on me." Ajit Pawar had fielded his wife Sunetra Pawar against Sule from the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. However, Sunetra Pawar lost the election.

Sule further said, "I assure you that all the 31 MPs of the MVA will work hard to get our alliance's candidates elected in the assembly polls." Assembly elections in Maharashtra are likely to be held in October or November this year.