On the eve of Diwali, Opposition parties in Maharashtra, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Mahayuti government, accusing it of abandoning rain and flood-affected farmers and reducing the festival of lights to a "Black Diwali" for thousands of struggling rural families.

According to the news agency PTI, NCP (SP) state president Shashikant Shinde led the charge, claiming that the state government had “burned the hopes” of farmers by making false promises, announcing meagre relief, and failing to provide substantial compensation for crop losses. “The so-called progressive state has mocked its food providers,” Shinde said during a day-long hunger strike held outside the Satara district collector’s office, one of many protests staged across Maharashtra on Friday.