Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | Congress defends its guarantees, claims BJP's accusations are fake

Mumbai: Putting up a spirited fight amid a negative campaign by the BJP, the Congress on Saturday countered the allegations that the grand old party was not fulfilling the guarantees it made before the polls in the Congress-ruled states.

Leading the charge, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Let BJP to engage in a debate with the Congress and tell what work its government carried out in the last 11 years…We will tell you about the work we have done in 55 years,”

Kharge also defended Congress’ Karnataka guarantee schemes, and asserted his party implements the promises made as it always works for the welfare of the people.

On the other hand, in Mumbai, Sukhwinder Sukhu, Revanth Reddy and D K Shivakumar, along Pawan Khera, accused the BJP of spreading falsehood.

Shivakumar said that Congress party’s six guarantees did not come overnight but after a careful study of the peoples’ problems during now Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra covering South-North and East-West of the country.

As soon as Congress came to power, it started its implementation,” Shivakumar said about the initiatives of the Siddaramaiah-led dispensation.

“Around 1.22 crore women are getting Rs 2,000/month under the Grihalakshmi Scheme, 1.64 crore families are getting the benefits of 200 units free electricity through the Gruha Jyothi Scheme and 4.08 crore falling Below Poverty Line are getting 10 kg free rice under the ‘Annabhagya Scheme. Another 3.20 crore women travelled free on State Transport buses involving the Shakti Scheme, and the Yuva Nidhi Scheme has extended Rs 3000/month to over five-lakh students,” said Shivakumar.

According to him, the schemes were implemented within 60 days after coming to power and a provision of Rs 52,000-crore has been made from Karnataka’s budget.

Reddy said that the Congress will continue to tell the truth until Modi stops spreading lies.

“It is the reason I came to Maharashtra to apprise people of the truth about the implementation of six guarantees in Telangana. The highest number of farmer suicides have been reported in Maharashtra. The (Maha Yuti) state government and BJP-led Centre forgot the welfare of the farmers. Modi contemplated introducing 'black laws ' to benefit Adani and Ambani. Congress made the promise of farm loan waiver scheme up to Rs 2 lakhs in Telangana.

The Congress government waived Rs 17,869 crore farm loans by relieving 22,22,067 farmers from debt burden in 25 days. My government is ready to furnish the details of the implementation of the farm loan waiver scheme if anyone wants,” he said.

Sukhu said Himachal Pradesh faced the BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ but after the Congress assured power, it started implementing all the guarantees, including the Old Pension Scheme.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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