Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav will on Wednesday transfer the increased monthly assistance of Rs1,500 each to women beneficiaries under the state government’s Ladli Behna Yojana. The event will take place in Seoni, where the Chief Minister will, in a single click, disburse Rs 1,857 crore to over 1.26 crore women across all 52 districts of the state.

Earlier, the beneficiaries were receiving Rs1,250 per month, which was increased following Cabinet approval earlier this month. The revised payout will cost the state exchequer an additional Rs300 crore per month.

Background of the scheme

The Ladli Behna Yojana was launched in June 2023 to provide monthly financial support to women. Initially, the amount was Rs1,000, later raised to Rs1,250 in September 2023. The current increment to Rs1,500 fulfills a major pre-election promise made by the ruling party, which had pledged to gradually increase the assistance up to Rs3,000 per month.

Since the inception of the scheme, the government has directly transferred a total of Rs44,917.92 crore into beneficiaries’ bank accounts, according to official data. The scheme currently benefits around 1.26 crore women.

Possible renaming of the scheme

During the event, the Chief Minister may also announce a new name for the scheme — Devi Subhadra Yojana. Dr Yadav had hinted at this possibility during the Bhai Dooj celebrations last month, drawing a symbolic connection between Lord Krishna’s care for his sister Subhadra and the government’s support for women’s empowerment.

He had said, “Just as Lord Krishna ensured Subhadra’s dignity and protection, our government stands as a guardian for our sisters, ensuring their happiness, safety, and self-reliance.”

Impact on women’s empowerment

Officials have highlighted that the initiative has significantly improved women’s participation in local economies. Many beneficiaries have started small-scale ventures like tailoring, dairy farming, and photocopy services, turning financial aid into livelihood opportunities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met victims of the recent blast near Delhi’s Red Fort at Lok Nayak Hospital, shortly after returning from his two-day Bhutan visit. The visit came amid tight security arrangements around the hospital, where all the injured were admitted.

Nine killed, several injured in Red Fort blast

The explosion occurred on Monday evening when a white Hyundai i20 car exploded near the Red Fort traffic signal, killing nine people and injuring 20 others. The blast, which happened during rush hour, also gutted several nearby vehicles.

Officials said the blast is linked to a terror module spread across Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Hours before the incident, eight people, including three doctors, were arrested and 2,900 kg of explosives were recovered in a joint police operation.

Investigations link suspects to Faridabad university

Among those arrested were Dr Muzammil Ganaie and Dr Shaheen Sayeed, both associated with Al Falah University in Faridabad, where 360 kg of ammonium nitrate was seized. Another suspect, Dr Umar Nabi — who reportedly died in the explosion — was also linked to the same institution.

Sources said Ganaie and Nabi had previously surveyed the Red Fort area and planned to carry out a major attack during Diwali, which was later aborted. They were also suspected of planning another attack on Republic Day.

Investigators believe an ANFO-based improvised explosive device (IED), containing ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, was packed into the car and manually detonated, indicating a possible suicide attack. High-grade explosives stronger than ammonium nitrate were also found at the site.

By Vickram Kilpady

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is set to win elections to the 243-member Bihar Assembly, exit polls said today as voting closed in the second phase for 122 constituencies. The first phase of voting for 121 seats took place on November 6. Votes will be counted on November 14, Friday.

As expected, a majority of the exit polls showed the NDA far ahead of the majority mark of 122. Matrize predicted 157 seats, P-Marq 152, Dainik Bhaskar 145-160, People’s Pulse 133-159; the lowest numbers for the NDA were from Chanakya Strategies which put it at 130-138.
Of the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led Mahagathbandhan that includes the Congress, the highest prediction was 108 from Chanakya. The RJD had been the party with the most seats in the last election and pollsters expect the BJP to beat it this time. But since all exit polls put out a disclaimer, the results may vary. Exit polls have also got it calamitously wrong at times.

The Bihar campaign has been fought by the Mahagathbandhan challenging the Nitish Kumar government, under whose leadership the campaign has been waged by the BJP. The allegations of vote chori were also made against the Election Commission by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the run-up to the polls. The NDA government in Bihar also released several instalments of a women’s scheme after the model code of conduct came into force though the scheme itself was launched a few days ahead of the announcement of elections.
The campaign from the NDA-end has been shrill, blaming the Mahagathbandhan constituents for letting in Bangladeshi infiltrators to inflate voter rolls. This is apart from the usual run-of-the-mill dynasty barbs at the Lalu Yadav and the Nehru-Gandhi clan, and the jungle raj jibe that recalls the lawlessness of Bihar under Lalu and after.

Whoever wins on Friday, the one noteworthy point from the Bihar elections which will cast a shadow across India is the fact that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists seems to have defeated the groundswell expected against incumbent Nitish Kumar. Such electoral fine-tuning is likely to be replicated in the states going to the polls in May 2026, West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.