The Former Party
The former CM Eknath Shinde’s party Shiv Sena idealogy has a nationalistic ideology with Marathi pride (Sons of the Soil) and women’s empowerment. Through his tenure, reforms included:
- Social welfare programs:
Launched the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, providing ₹1,500 a month to nearly 25 million poor women to empower them economically.
The Ladka Bhau Scheme was launched to impart skills and stipends to youths as one of the measures towards increasing employment. - Education and Health Programs:
Offered free education for women coming from low-class backgrounds with equality of gender.
-Energize public health by availing programs such as free LPG refills and pilgrimages of senior citizens. - Infrastructure: – Sanctioned 34 major infrastructure projects that include metro lines, bullet trains, expressways, and elevated roads. Worth ₹3.97 lakh crore, they aim to improve transportation and urban connectivity in Maharashtra, particularly Thane.
- Economic Measures: The pre-government initiatives were restored to enhance the economy, including support for industries, agriculture, and small businesses.
- Maratha Quota Initiatives: The Maratha reservation issue was sorted out, balancing political and social demands. These reforms bring together populist measures and long-term development goals to strengthen his leadership in the Mahayuti alliance and meet the diverse needs of Maharashtra.
Winning Allaince Mahayuti
The coalition of BJP, the Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena (57 seats), and Ajit Pawar-NCP (Nationalist Congress party) with other smaller allies like the Republican Party of India (Athawale) and other regional ones, the Mahayuti have formed ideologies based on the ensemble and they are as follows:
The Mahayuti’s Grand Ideas and Plans:
- Hindutva and Unity: The coalition will communicate with Hindutva-centric themes about unifying all Hindus and working them into a sort of mega-caste unity. Campaign slogans, for example, “Divided we fall,” mention installation commitments on culture nationalization and infrastructure projects like the Ram Mandir.
- Caste and Regional Outreach: This was for the Maratha and Other Backward Class (OBC) votes with assurances for Maratha reservations and enhanced OBC representation, thus addressing the community-specific concerns of these voters. This established a broad base of support.
- Economic Development: The strategy in several reforms is economic, just as it emphasized policies for industrialization, better infrastructure, and improved public services like targeting Maharashtra to be the financial and industrial power in India.
- Women Empowerment: The major programs such as Ladki Bahin Yojana were education support, vocational training, and marriage assistance programs, which significantly contributed to increased women’s voter mobilization.
- Leadership Cohesion: Mahayuti will symbolize a strong stable front under leaders like Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, and Ajit Pawar, despite the diversities internally. BJP’s organizational discipline, with grassroots support from the RSS, ensured unity.
What will change?
The transition from Eknath Shinde’s Shive Sena to the new Mahayuti alliance government is likely to be relatively smooth, as Shinde himself remains a central figure in the coalition, continuing his leadership alongside other key members like Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. These are some of the changes that the party will bring upon in their tenure:
Women Welfare: Monthly grants to eligible women under the Ladki Bahin Yojana will increase from ₹1,500 to ₹2,100 and the Recruitment of 25,000 women into police to ensure improved safety.
Agriculture Enhancement:
- Expansion of the Shetkari Sanman Yojana, which will grant financial aid to farmers on an annual basis increased to ₹15,000.
- Minimum Support Prices will have a 20% subsidy.
- Complete waiver of farm loans.
Employment and Skill Development:
- Creation of 25 lakh jobs across the state.
- One stipend of ₹10,000 per month will be available for skill training to 10 lakh students.
Infrastructure and Rural Development:
- The importance given to these roads pertains to 45,000 villages Paving them will directly contribute to rural connectivity improvement.
Welfare of Senior Citizens:
- Increasing the pension for the elderly people from ₹1500 to ₹2100.
Energy and Inflation:
- Reduction of electricity bills by 30%.
- Renewable energy sources for sustainable future investment.
- Stabilization of essential commodity prices to curb inflation.
Social Workers’ Welfare:
- Wages for Anganwadi Workers and ASHAs increased to ₹15,000 and would be provided insurance coverage.
Vision Maharashtra 2029:
- This forms a transformative road map to be implemented at the end of the first 100 days for development in a long-term scenario by 2029.
Besides this, the Mahayuti alliance will impress upon the features that it implemented over past governance to prove that it has added new reforms to address a change.
Conclusion
The transition from the previous administration to the newly formed Mahayuti alliance of the 3 major parties is rather powerful for the state. As for leadership, Devendra Fadnavis won the confidence to be elected as the CM. He was the CM of Maharashtra from 2014 to 2019 and this will be his mighty comeback after almost six years. This makes him the best choice for the post of CM alongside major members like Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
