Maha govt spent Rs 900 cr ahead of EC's poll bugle

As the Election Commission of India announced the eagerly awaited poll schedule for Maharashtra on Tuesday, with voting set for November 20 and counting on November 23, the model code of conduct has also come into effect. This prohibits the government from directly spending public funds on publicity.

However, the Eknath Shinde government's advertising and PR expenditure has already reached over Rs 900 crore. In the past three months, the state government has strategically allocated significant budgets to promote its welfare schemes, particularly in response to the ruling alliance's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls, which raised alarm bells within BJP ranks.

In the first week of August, the government allocated Rs 300 crore to appoint "Yojana-Doots" for publicizing various schemes, along with Rs 100 crore set aside for housing publicity and Rs 4 crore for agriculture initiatives. In the second week of August, an additional Rs 200 crore was earmarked for the "CM Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojna," which provides Rs 1,500 monthly assistance to women below the poverty line. This initiative mirrors Madhya Pradesh's successful "Ladli Bahana" scheme, which played a crucial role in the BJP's electoral success last year.

Earlier in July, the government sanctioned Rs 270 crore for a special campaign to promote other welfare schemes, along with Rs 4.7 crore dedicated to advertising the "CM Annapurna Yojna," which offers three gas cylinders annually to underprivileged women. 

These strategic investments highlight the government's aggressive push to enhance its outreach and support for various welfare programmes ahead of the State polls. 

In the run-up to the polls, the government took over a whopping 160 cabinet decisions across six marathon cabinet meetings to hand out various subsidies such as financial aid for cow keepers, free bus rides for elderly women, farmer compensation, salary hikes for Madarsa teachers, increased minority welfare investment, and raising the creamy layer limit to boost OBC-SC outreach. They also allocated premium plots to leading developers. 

According to political pundits, “Many of these announcements have yet to materialise due to time constraints and budget limitations; however, this has not stopped the government from leveraging social media influencers to widely promote these initiatives.”

Stakes are high 

Since the government can no longer spend directly on advertising until results are declared, it's now the turn of political parties to ramp up their efforts. The stakes are high for all the participants as the contest is likely to be multi-corner at most of the 288 Assembly seats. 

Political leaders admit, “This election promises to be the most intriguing, unpredictable, and high-energy contest, featuring an advertising blitzkrieg.”

Media companies are poised for a windfall as all six major political parties – BJP, Congress and both the factions of Shiv Sena and NCP – are likely to invest heavily in advertising to secure an edge in the multi-party polls, observers told e4m. Then there are outfits like the MNS, RPI (A), CPI, CPIM and AAP that will also try to make inroads. 

The majority of political spends is likely to go to traditional media platforms – TV, Print and Outdoor –largely the regional ones. However, digital media, especially Google, Facebook and Twitter, may also get substantial amounts to tap Gen Z and Millennials, industry leaders shared. 

Besides, influencer marketing has also marked its entry in these elections. Leading parties are likely to use regional influencers to get their message across. 

The BJP, being the national party and by virtue of being the richest among all political parties, is expected to spend the maximum amount of money to woo the voters across Maharashtra. Their stakes are also highest, after all, PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah would do everything to cut Shinde to size and win the majority on its own. This is now even more important since the party lost the Jammu and Kashmir elections just last week. 

Congress, the second largest party in the Assembly following the disintegration of Shiv Sena and NCP, won't leave any stone unturned to put its best foot forward in Maharashtra. It could not win the Haryana Assembly polls despite massive incumbency against the ruling BJP. 

Key battleground 

Maharashtra is a key battleground for all three – BJP, NCP (Ajit Pawar) and Shiv Sena (Shinde) and holds particular significance for Eknath Shinde's political survival. Shinde orchestrated a coup against Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray in 2021, breaking away from the coalition of Shiv Sena with Congress and NCP-called Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). 

With the BJP's backing, Shinde became the Chief Minister while also claiming the symbol and name of his original party. Later on, NCP also broke away and one of its factions joined the government. 

However, the ruling alliance (named Mahayuti) underperformed in the Lok Sabha elections, securing only nine and seven seats respectively. In contrast, the MVA won 30 seats, including nine from Shiv Sena (UBT).