Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena President Eknath Shinde has slammed the opposition for moving court against the 'Ladki Bahin Yojana' and said that if the scheme was a crime, he was ready to go to jail.
"I am ready to go to jail for the Ladki Bahin (beloved sisters)," he said after the inauguration of the office of the party nominee Vishwanath Bhoir from Kalyan West late Monday night.
The Chief Minister asked the women voters to support Shiv Sena and the MahaYuti for defeating the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which has been pressing for discontinuing the Ladki Bahin Yojana.
"Dear sisters will get Rs 1,500 every month under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. The opposition has been consistently advocating the closure of the Ladki Bahin Yojana. If they (the opposition) approach you (women voters) during the poll campaign, ask them why they are opposing the Ladki Bahin Yojana," Chief Minister Shinde said.
Further, the Chief Minister called upon the women to grill the opposition asking them why they went to court to stop the scheme.
"This is the government of the common man. So whoever comes to you - the stepbrothers, rivals or opponents - show them their place for opposing the Ladki Bahin Yojana," he advised.
He further claimed that those who will close down the Ladki Bahin Yojana and other welfare schemes will face a backlash.
The Chief Minister said that Shiv Sena and MahaYuti were counting on a slew of development projects launched during the last two and half years.
"Let the Maha Vikas Aghadi tell about the development works during its rule. We are ready to give our account. Is Maha Vikas Aghadi ready for this?" he asked.
At another rally after the inauguration of the election office of the party nominee from Worli seat Milind Deora, the Chief Minister accused the Uddhav Thackeray-led government of putting speed breakers by stalling various development projects including the Mumbai Coastal Road, Aarey Metro car shed, Mumbai Metro 3, Atal Setu and park in Mahalakshmi Race Course.
"The MahaYuti removed all speed rakers and completed these projects. Had it not been done, then these projects would not have been completed in 15 years," he claimed.
He said that the MahaYuti government will work to bring back the Marathi Manoos, who were thrown out of Mumbai, to the metropolis.
He criticised the Shiv Sena-UBT for running a campaign that Mumbai will be separated from Maharashtra after the elections were over.
"It won't happen. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the Centre's desire for Mumbai to become a world-class city and a powerhouse. The double engine government means a double guarantee," he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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