The western Indian state of Maharashtra has witnessed several political twists and turns in the past five years. Currently, the Mahayuti alliance led by Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde, including the BJP and the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar, is ruling the state. On the other side, 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 only the political chaos but the economy in the country, as the elections are approaching, some leaders in the opposition ranks have recently blamed the ruling party for important projects that have left the country and are concerned about unemployment.
However, the numbers available at the Center counter the opposition’s allegations, with sources in the ruling government saying the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has not done much to increase employment and development potential in the country.
As far as development is concerned, since the NDA formed the government in the state in 2022, there has been an investment in infrastructure of over Rs 8 lakh crore which will help in boosting direct and indirect employment opportunities.
“Over 200 logistics infra projects with an income of Rs 30,000 crore are expected to create approximately 5,00,000 new job opportunities,” data from the Center has estimated.
Showing an example of the positive impact that a dual-engine government can produce, the data also shows how unemployment among the youth has seen a steady decline under the NDA government.
“The unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 29 has fallen steadily from 19 percent when the MVA came to power in 2019 and now stands at 15 percent,” the data said.
NSSO reports compiled over the years show Maharashtra has also emerged as the number one state for startups. As of August 2024, there are a total of 27 unicorns in the country compared to 109 nationwide.
Maharashtra’s startup ecosystem also holds special significance with the number of women-led start-ups in the state. Of the country’s 25,044 start-ups, almost half are led by women. “As of August this year, 12,413 startups in the country were led by women,” Indian unicorn tracker data shows.
Furthermore, the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) from 2019-2022 and 2022-2024 shows that under the NDA government, the level of women’s empowerment has increased. “The Worker Population Ratio of 37.3 percent in 2021-22 will increase to 39.1 percent in 2023-24,” the data said.
It is also known that through the ‘rozgar melas’ implemented by the NDA government, the number of jobs has increased. Compared to 2019-20 under the MVA government, 148 ‘rozgar melas’ provided 22,877 job opportunities. The latest figures of the NDA government in 2023-24 have seen 581 job fairs, creating 95,478 job opportunities. “The number of jobs provided through job fairs increased from 61,000 during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government (2019-22) to 1.51 lakh under the NDA government.”
Mumbai is one of the largest metros in the country and is often referred to as the financial capital of India. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), now a $140 billion economy with a per capita income of Rs 4,36,000, has recorded a slow growth of just 6.1 percent between 2012 and 2020 and even less than the national average, Central data has revealed.
“The NDA government has taken the initiative to transform MMR into the world’s most important economy with a GDP of nearly $1.5 trillion by 2047, an investment of Rs 25 lakh crore from the private sector, 65 percent of the country’s data centers, the upcoming Vadhavan Port, estimated projects additional to 2.8-3 million people, including one million women,” said the source.
With the victory in Haryana behind them, the NDA is very confident that with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Center and the state government in Maharashtra, if voted to power, Maharashtra’s growth journey will continue.
TWISTS and TURNS from 2019
In the last state assembly elections in 2019, Shiv Sena was a united force under Uddhav Thackeray while Ajit Pawar aligned with his uncle Sharad Pawar.
Despite winning a majority in 2019, the alliance between the BJP and the Shiv Sena did not last after the election results and the President’s Ordinance came into force. In November, to everyone’s surprise, Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister of the state along with Ajit Pawar, who jumped into government with the BJP-led NDA and became deputy CM. However, three days later, on November 26, the couple called it quits and Ajit Pawar returned to his uncle Sharad Pawar. Thackeray then formed an alliance with the NCP and the Congress to form the government after the floor test on November 28.
In June 2022, in another setback for Thackeray, Eknath Shinde’s party joined the NDA along with a group of MLAs to form a government with the BJP in the state. Shinde was appointed chief minister and Fadnavis as his deputy. A few months later, Ajit Pawar once again separated from his uncle and a group of leaders and joined the Mahayuti alliance and was made deputy minister again.
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