CM Fadnavis responds to demand to rename Ladki Bahin Yojana after Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis hints at renaming the Ladki Bahin scheme after Ajit Pawar. File pic

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said his government will consider the demand to rename the Ladki Bahin scheme after Deputy CM and NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash in Baramati.

Earlier on Tuesday, NCP MLC Amol Mitkari demanded that the government's flagship Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana for financial assistance to women be renamed after Pawar.

Speaking to the media in Haridwar, CM Fadnavis said, "There are several demands. We will sit together and think how to go about it," as cited by news agency PTI.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and four others were killed in a plane crash at Baramati in Pune district on January 28.

Mitkari had said Ajitdada (as Pawar was fondly called) was the favourite brother of women in the state.

He emphasised, "His wrist would be full of rakhis when he travelled across the state during his yatras." The state government would give a tribute to him if it named the scheme the Ajitdadanchi Ladki Bahin scheme (Ajitdada's Ladki Bahin scheme)," as cited by news agency PTI.

Ladki Bahin Yojana was announced by Ajit Pawar

The Ladki Bahin scheme, announced by Pawar when he was the finance minister and started in July 2024, provides assistance of Rs 1,500 every month to eligible women in the age group of 21 to 65 through direct bank transfer.

The scheme is believed to have played a crucial role in the victory of the BJP-led Mahayuti in the 2024 assembly elections. Earlier on Monday, Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also said the government won't stop the monthly financial assistance to women under the scheme, as it is helping them immensely, and that the aid will be increased from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,100 at the right time.

Sunetra Pawar takes charge as deputy CM

Days after Ajit Pawar's untimely demise, his wife, Sunetra Ajit Pawar, was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Sunetra's swearing in as the Deputy Chief Minister created history, as she became the first woman to hold the post in the state.

Her husband, the late Ajit Pawar, had earlier set a record by serving as deputy chief minister six times. On January 31, 2026, Sunetra Pawar was administered the oath of office by Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat at Lok Bhavan (formerly known as Raj Bhavan) in Mumbai.

(With inputs from PTI)