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Journalism of Courage
Opposition Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Jayant Patil on Tuesday said that the state budget with a Rs 45,891 crore revenue deficit will force all ministers in the state cabinet to “surrender to” Finance Minister Ajit Pawar to avoid cuts to their funds.
“Rs 45,000 crore is a very big amount. It also means that all the ministers in the state cabinet will have no option but to surrender in front of Ajit dada. If you surrender, only then will your department not face a cut in funds… jokes aside, the state will have to introduce the cuts looking at the deficit,” said Patil. He was speaking in the legislative assembly on the discussion of state budget 2025-26 presented by deputy CM and Finance minister Ajit Pawar.
According to the budget presented by Pawar on Monday, the total revenue deficit has increased by more than double from Rs 20,050.69 crore in the 2024-25 fiscal to Rs 45,890.86 crore, leaving the state staring at a fiscal deficit of Rs 1,36,234.62 crore.
Patil said that after last year’s budget, supplementary demands worth Rs 1.60 lakh crore have been presented. “And still, the state stares at a deficit of over Rs 45,000 crore which is a worrying fact,” said Patil.
Patil questioned that no mention of populist schemes announced by the state government — such as Anandacha Shidha, senior citizen pilgrimage scheme and Shiv Bhojan scheme — were made in the budget speech. Joining him, ruling NCP MLA and former minister Chhagan Bhujbal in his speech too asked the government to not cancel the Shiv Bhojan scheme as it helped feed the poor. It was Bhujbal, as Food and Civil Supplies department minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, who had initiated the scheme.
Earlier, Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar too slammed the budget questioning overlooked pre-poll promises of the ruling Mahayuti.
“Ajit Pawar claimed in his budget speech that Maharashtra will not stop now. But it seems that this Mahayuti government will not stop until it pushes Maharashtra under the burden of debt,” said Wadettiwar, pointing out 45 per cent increase in the debt in the last three years.
The opposition MLA asked Pawar to clarify if welfare schemes such as Shiv Bhojan or Anandacha Shidha are even active today. “In 2018, then CM Devendra Fadnavis had said that Maharashtra’s economy will become a trillion dollar by 2025. Now, the year has changed to 2028. What is the vision? What is the roadmap? The Mahayuti government has not increased the economy, but doubled the corruption,” he said.
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