Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Congress launched a campaign called ‘Laapataa Ladies,’ inspired by the quirky comedy film of the same name, to attack the Mahayuti government on the issue of women’s safety.
The campaign targets Chief Minister Shinde and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar for their alleged failures.
Posters featuring silhouettes resembling the three leaders have been put up across Maharashtra, emblazoned with the phrase ‘Laapataa Ladies’ alongside the statement, “64,000 women missing in a year,” written in Marathi.
“Every year, 64,000 women and girls go missing from Maharashtra, which is a matter of serious concern,” Congress said in a statement.
The campaign specifically took aim at Fadnavis, who is also the state’s Home Minister.
“These posters clearly show that the Home Minister’s work has been completely ineffective. This is a failure of the government, and as a result, women’s safety in Maharashtra has been jeopardised, and the state’s law and order have collapsed.”
The Congress campaign, which comes in the wake of a case of sexual abuse involving two young schoolgirls in Badlapur, seeks to highlight the government’s poor performance on women’s safety.
“Devendra Fadnavis’ tenure has been a complete failure in terms of women’s safety, and the public’s demand for his resignation is growing stronger by the day,” the party added.
Kiran Rao’s ‘Laapataa Ladies’, which explores the patriarchy and women’s empowerment through a humorous lens, became a critical and commercial success. The film is also India’s official entry in the international feature category at the 2025 Academy Awards.
Maharashtra’s legislative assembly elections, expected to be held in mid-November, will see a contest between the ruling Mahayuti alliance—comprising Shinde’s Shiv Sena, BJP, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP—and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, which includes Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction, Congress, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP. The Election Commission has yet to announce the official polling dates.
