Amid a bitter fight for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly elections slated for November 20, the Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are engaged in an intense competition over the announcement of a slew of guarantees or promises to lure voters. The Mahayuti led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde comprising BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP had announced 10 guarantees on Tuesday while the MVA consisting of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP(SP) released five guarantees titled 'Panchsutri' on Wednesday. The Mahayuti in its "please all" guarantees, has made an attempt to cover various sections while the MVA has focussed on reaching out to farmers, women, youth and young women through the 'Panchsutri'.
However, one thing is common, these slew of populist schemes will put additional financial burden on the state exchequer posing a major challenge to the new government to cope up amid tight finances. With the announcement of guarantees by both Mahayuti and MVA, senior bureaucrats expect that the new government may have to bear an additional burden ranging between Rs 50,000 crore and Rs 1,00,000 crore to fulfil those promises. These promises, a part of the "revadi" culture, need to be seen in the context of the Maharashtra government's present financial position.
The Maharashtra government's fiscal deficit is now over Rs 2 lakh crore especially after the Mahayuti government's implementation of a slew of welfare and development schemes worth Rs 1 lakh crore announced in the annual budget. The.