Battle for Maharashtra: BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP hope freebies will offset farmer anger and Maratha discontent

Maharashtra elections will be more about ruling parties ( BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP) fighting incumbency with freebies and sops, and the Opposition (Congress, NCPSP, Shiv Sena-UBT) batting for a change.

Maharashtra government is hoping that the Ladki Bahin scheme, which gives ₹1,500 per month to women, three free cylinders to women and free power for farmers, will help it retain power. The state has also formed a number of development corporations for several smaller communities in the state.

The sops kept on coming, hours before ECI declared the schedule. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation announced ₹29,000 as Diwali bonus for its employees. A day earlier, the Maharashtra Cabinet decided to exempt cars and small vehicles from paying toll at the five entry points in Mumbai.

The Mahayuti is hoping that all these freebies will help them assuage the anger among farmers, issues of law and order and douse the grouse of the Maratha community which is upset with the ruling party for not being included in the OBC list to get reservation benefits. After ECI's announcement, Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil exhorted Marathas to defeat BJP and its allies saying that Mahayuti has "humiliated the Maratha community".

The Gujarat angle will be a prominent issue, with the Opposition highlighting the issue of industries' relocating to Gujarat. Opposition leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Tuesday said that it was time for the people of the state to take 'revenge' on the ruling party for being subservient to Gujarat.

"ECI holding Maharashtra polls in a single phase shows that there was no reason for them to hold Lok Sabha polls in the state in seven phases," said Jayant Patil, state chief of NCPSP.