With the Maharashtra Assembly elections just over a week away, it is raining freebies in Maharashtra as both the Mahayuti alliance of ruling parties and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) bloc of Opposition parties promise voters a slew of welfare measures.

Keeping the composition of the electorate in mind, both alliances have put their focus on a variety of sections such as women, farmers, the youth, and the poor. While the Mahayuti has centred its campaign around the Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana under which women beneficiaries between 21 and 65 years old are eligible to receive monthly assistance of Rs 1,5000, the Opposition that was initially critical of the scheme has announced an even bigger dole.

Both Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the BJP, which released its manifesto on Sunday, have promised to increase the assistance under the Yojana to Rs 2,100 per month. Shinde made the announcement last Thursday, a day after the MVA announced the Mahalakshmi guarantee that promises Rs 3,000 per month and free transportation in government buses for women.

Deputy CM and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar was quick to target the Opposition alliance. At a roadshow for party candidate Nawab Malik, the NCP chief said the state would require more than Rs 3 lakh crore to fulfil the guarantees promised by the Opposition. “Where will they get the money from? Our promises are rational and do not need more than Rs 1 lakh crore,” he said.

All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala shot back and said the MVA’s promises were made only after thorough discussions with experts. “The announcements were not made keeping the polls in mind. We know how to use finances, and from where to bring them,” he said even as BJP spokesperson Niranjan Shetty claimed that no formula of the Congress would work as the people had lost trust in the grand old party.

With the number of beneficiaries touching 2.35 crore, the Ladki Bahin Yojana’s burden on the state exchequer is Rs 96,000 crore, prompting the finance department to highlight the growing fiscal deficit that has currently breached the Rs 2 lakh crore mark. “If any of the announcements are implemented after the polls, the treasury will be affected. Ultimately, the decision is taken by the political class,” said a senior official from the finance department.

Populist measures have shown mixed results in various elections. While in Madhya Pradesh last year, the BJP rode to power on the Ladli Behna Yojana on which the Ladki Bahin Yojana is modelled, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supremo K Chandrashekar Rao, who were seen to be banking heavily on the welfare measures of their governments faced massive defeats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in their state elections. While Reddy lost power this June, Rao was voted out in the elections last year.

Apart from schemes directed at women, both sides have also promised farm loan waivers. While the MVA was specific and said it would waive farm loans up to Rs 3 lakh and offered a Rs 5,000 incentive for those who consistently repay loans, the Mahayuti has not gone into the specifics. However, the ruling alliance has promised to increase the annual assistance for farmers from Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 and guaranteed a 20% hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP).

With unemployment emerging as a major issue ahead of the polls, two of the three Mahayuti constituents, BJP and NCP, have promised 25 lakh jobs in their party manifestos apart from the same promise being reiterated by the alliance. The ruling coalition has also promised a Rs 10,000 tuition aid for 10 lakh students through specialised training programmes and the recruitment of 25,000 women into the police. The MVA on the other hand has guaranteed Rs 4,000 per month to every unemployed in the state

Another ambitious MVA guarantee that may strain the exchequer is the affordable health insurance of Rs 25 lakh to all households of the state, virtually making healthcare free. It also has promised to provide essential medicines free of cost in government hospitals. On the other hand, the BJP in its manifesto has promised to expand the ambit of the Ayushman Bharat scheme and Mahatma Phule Janarogya Yojana to ensure that no one is deprived of medical treatment due to financial constraints.

In the social sector, while the BJP has promised to bring all workers under the social security net, the Mahayuti has promised to increase the monthly senior citizen pension from Rs 1,500 to Rs 21,00 and hike the wages of Anganwadi and ASHA workers to Rs 15,000 per month. Both the MVA and Mahayuti have pledged to keep the prices of essential commodities within the reach of the common man.