Maharashtra bandh on August 24 amid growing outrage after Badlapur sexual abuse case

The sexual abuse of two four-year-old girls at a Badlapur school has sparked widespread agitation and anger across the state. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Wednesday called for a Maharashtra Bandh on August 24 to protest the incident and the rising number of crimes against women.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde claimed that the protests in Badlapur on Tuesday were politically motivated as the MVA cornered the state government over the incident. He claimed that the opposition was unable to accept the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana's success. The newly implemented populist program offers impoverished women throughout the state a monthly ₹1,500 in aid. Some of the demonstrators at the Badlapur railway station on Tuesday carried placards criticising the scheme, arguing that the government ought to make sure women are safe rather than giving them ₹1,500 a month.

In order to talk about seat sharing for the next assembly elections, MVA leaders had set a meeting for this Wednesday. They chose to postpone it, though, in order to talk about the Badlapur incident and state-wide crimes against women. At that point, the opposition coalition made the decision to declare a statewide bandh.

Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) protested against the Mahayuti government in Mumbai. Leader of the opposition in the state assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, president of the Mumbai Congress and member Varsha Gaikwad, along with party workers, staged an agitation outside Mantralaya, yelling slogans against the Mahayuti government for allegedly taking too long to file a formal complaint in the Badlapur case.