India’s western state of Maharashtra has witnessed several political twists and turns in the last five years. At present, the Mahayuti alliance led by Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde, including BJP and the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar, is running the state. On the other hand, the opposition alliance has Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, and Sharad Pawar-led NCP.
While both sides continue to blame each other for not just the political but economic turmoil in the state, as the elections approach, several leaders within the opposition ranks have recently blamed the ruling side for crucial projects leaving the state and the rising concern about joblessness.
However, the numbers that are available at the Centre counter the Opposition’s charges, with sources within the ruling government alleging that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) didn’t do much to boost the employment and the development potential in the state.
So far as development is concerned, ever since the NDA formed the government in the state in 2022, there has been an investment in infrastructure of more than Rs 8 lakh crore which would help boost both direct and indirect employment opportunities.
“Over 200 logistics infra projects with Rs 30,000 crore of revenue generation are expected to create an estimated 5,00,000 new job opportunities,” the data from the Centre has assessed.
Citing the example of the positive impact that can be generated by a double-engine government, the data also reveals how joblessness among the youth has seen a steady decline under the NDA government.
“Unemployment rate between the youth aged 15 to 29 has seen a steady decline from 19 per cent when the MVA came to power in 2019 and is currently at 15 per cent,” data reveals.
The NSSO report compiled over the years shows Maharashtra has also emerged as the number one state for start-ups. As per the figures of August 2024, there are a total of 27 unicorns in the state compared to 109 all over the country.
The Maharashtra start-up ecosystem also has a special significance with the rising number of women-led start-ups in the state. Of 25,044 start-ups in the state, nearly half are women-led. “As of August this year, 12,413 start-ups in the state are led by women,” Indian unicorn tracker data showed.
Further, the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) from 2019-2022 and 2022- 2024 depicts that under the NDA government, women’s empowerment rate has been on the rise. “The Worker Population Ratio of 37.3 per cent in 2021-22 increased to 39.1 per cent in 2023-24,” the data said.
It is also learnt that through the ‘rozgar melas’ conducted by the NDA government, there has been a steady rise in the number of jobs. In comparison to 2019-20 under the MVA government, 148 ‘rozgar melas’ provided 22,877 job opportunities. The latest figures under the NDA government in 2023-24 had seen 581 job fairs, creating 95,478 job opportunities. “The number of jobs provided through job fairs increased significantly from 61,000 during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government (2019-22) to 1.51 lakh under the NDA government.”
Mumbai is one of the biggest metros in the country and is often referred to as the financial capital of India. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), currently a $140-billion economy with a per capita income of Rs 4,36,000, had recorded sluggish growth of just 6.1 per cent between 2012 and 2020 and was even less than the national average, Centre’s data has revealed.
“The NDA government has been taking initiatives to convert MMR into the world’s foremost economies with a GDP of close to $1.5 trillion by 2047, Rs 25 lakh crore investment from the private sector, 65 per cent of the country’s data centres, upcoming Vadhavan Port, estimated additional jobs to 2.8-3 million people, including one million women,” the sources have revealed.
With the win in Haryana behind them, NDA is extremely confident that with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre and a state government in Maharashtra, if voted to power, the growth journey of Maharashtra will continue.
THE TWISTS AND TURNS SINCE 2019
In the last state assembly elections in 2019, the Shiv Sena was a united force under Uddhav Thackeray while Ajit Pawar was aligned with his uncle Sharad Pawar.
Despite winning the majority in 2019, the alliance between BJP and Shiv Sena did not stand after the election results and President’s Rule was imposed. In November, to everyone’s surprise, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the chief minister of the state along with Ajit Pawar, who jumped ship to form the government with the BJP-led NDA and was made the deputy CM. However, three days later, on November 26, the duo resigned and Ajit Pawar went back to his uncle Sharad Pawar. Thackeray then formed an alliance with the NCP and Congress to form a government after the floor test on November 28.
In June 2022, in another setback for Thackeray, his party’s Eknath Shinde joined the NDA along with a group of his MLAs to form a government with the BJP in the state. Shinde was made the chief minister and Fadnavis became his deputy. A few months later, Ajit Pawar once again split from his uncle with a group of leaders and joined the Mahayuti alliance and was made the deputy chief minister again.
