"Gajar Halwa": Team Uddhav On E Shinde Government's Maiden Budget

Taking a dig at the deputy Chief Minister, Team Uddhav said the intensity of Mr Fadnavis' assurances was more than the unseasonal rain and hailstorm that hit the majority of the state two days back.

The Shiv Sena faction headed by Uddhav Thackeray on Friday dubbed the Maharashtra government's Budget 2023-24 as 'gajar halwa', and accused the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dispensation of peddling false dreams in election year by showering sops on people.

In its mouthpiece 'Saamana', the party said Deputy Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who presented the budget in the state Assembly on Thursday, showered assurances but did not show generosity in announcing compensation to farmers who suffered losses due to unseasonal rains earlier this week.

Mr Fadnavis, who is also the state Finance Minister, presented the Shinde government's maiden budget, in which it proposed Rs 6,000 assistance to farmers and Re 1 crop insurance scheme while also offering relief in professional tax to working women, 50 per cent discount on ticket fares in state-run buses to women and a new scheme for the girl child.

Elections are due in various civic bodies in the state, including the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The state Assembly elections would be due in October 2024.