‘They would’ve not remembered their sisters if…’: Supriya Sule attacks Shinde govt over Ladki Bahin scheme

Supriya Sule (Image: CNBC-TV18/X)

NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule, in a recent interaction, launched a sharp comment on Mahayuti government’s flagship ‘Ladki Bahin Yojana’ for underprivileged women in Maharashtra.

As part of the scheme launched in June this year, the Mahayuti government, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, offers a monthly stipend of Rs 1,500 to women aged 21-65, with an annual family income limit of Rs 2.5 lakh for beneficiaries.

On being asked if the scheme will benefit the current government in the run up to the Assembly polls, Sule told Hindustan Times that they have nothing to show apart from the Ladki Bahin Yojana.

“They have nothing to show except the Ladki Bahin Yojana. And they woke up only after badly losing the Lok Sabha elections. If they had won more seats, they would not have remembered their sisters,” she told the publication.

In the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) -- comprising the NCP (SP), Congress and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) – won 30 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats. An independent supporting the opposition alliance also emerged victorious.

During the interaction, she also stated that political reconciliation with Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar is unlikely since he is with the BJP, and added that she would not seek the CM post if the MVA is voted into power.

Last year, Sule's cousin Ajit Pawar, along with several other NCP MLAs, joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government in Maharashtra, causing a split in the party founded by her father, Sharad Pawar.

In June 2022, Shinde had led a rebellion against the Shiv Sena leadership, which led to a split in that party.

“I am not fighting the assembly election. I also don’t get drawn into gender-based talk about being the ‘first woman chief minister of Maharashtra’. I think it is a serious job, one that comes with a lot of responsibility,” she told HT.

The NCP (SP) is contesting 86 out of 288 assembly seats (as per the seat-sharing arrangement of MVA allies) in the state elections due to be held on November 20, Sule told PTI. The results will be announced on November 23.