MVA slams Mahayuti govt plan to spend Rs 90 crore on five-day digital publicity blitz

Mumbai: The Mahayuti govt has come under fire from the MVA for inviting tenders for a Rs 90 crore digital publicity blitz for just five days.
Bids were invited for publicising govt schemes and projects at a time when the assembly election and the model code of conduct are round the corner. The documents were shared by MVA functionaries on social media.
"So far, this government has spent nearly Rs 1,500 crore only for publicity.This Rs 1,500 crore would have been a great help for farmers, skill development of youth, poor students would have got good quality uniforms. How many roads would have been made in rural and tribal areas? Think how many dear sisters would have been helped with this money. But at the end of the day, the Mahayuti govt means corrupt governance, heavy advertising," NCP (SP) MLA Jayant Patil said.
The tenders were invited by the directorate general of information and publicity (DGIPR).
"Just for digital publicity, Mahajhoothi govt has issued a five-day tender of Rs 90 crore, that makes it Rs 18 crore per day, Rs 75 lakh per hour, and Rs 1.5 lakh per minute. Loot is on. This is exactly how Maharashtra taxpayers' money is flowing like water for the political benefit of this illegal government," Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said.
"A Maha waste of a Maha corrupt MahaYuti govt. The state govt has floated a tender of Rs 90 crore for advertising on digital platforms. Rs 90 crore rupees have to be spent in five days. That means Rs 18 crores per day, Rs 75 lakhs per hour. The government is spending nearly Rs 1.25 lakh every minute. The state has a debt of more than Rs 8 lakh crores. However, the government is busy floating tenders and taking commissions... this is rampant and wasteful," said Congress functionary Atul Londhe Patil.
The state has already come under criticism for pre-election sops costing Rs 96,000 crore announced in the budget, including the Ladki Bahin scheme. The expenditure on the Ladki Bahin scheme is slated to be Rs 46,000 crore per year.
The state govt is also on a spree to clear land allotments, subsidies and guarantees in the run-up to the election. The finance department has already warned that fiscal deficit could be as high as Rs 2 lakh crore for 2024-25. The department warned that the fiscal deficit had crossed 3% of the state GSDP, the cap set by the Maharashtra Fiscal Responsibility and Budgetary Management Act.