Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday admitted that the government had not done any proper scrutiny of the benefactors when the state rolled out the Ladki Bahin Scheme. Even those not eligible for the payouts have got money as there was no proper scrutiny, he said. Faced with a fund crunch, the Maharashtra government has now begun weeding out ineligible beneficiaries.

"When we brought out the scheme, there was less time. Everyone knows that the elections (assembly polls) were to be held in two to three months. We could not get the time to do the scrutiny as well as we wanted. Yet, we had appealed to the people that only eligible people should apply. We felt that those who were not eligible would not apply for the scheme. However, some (who are not eligible) have applied for it," said Ajit Pawar on Monday.

The Maharashtra Opposition has slammed the state government saying that the Mahayuti government had deliberately not done any due diligence as they wanted women voters to vote enmasse for them.