Desperate for a comeback, the beleaguered Congress in Haryana is all set to promise the moon to woo voters ahead of the October 21 Assembly elections in the state.
The Congress in its manifesto to be released on Friday in capital city Chandigarh is likely to announce cash doles for unemployed youth, including a monthly pay-out of Rs 10,000 to all unemployed post-graduate youths. The graduate unemployed youths are likely to get Rs 7,000 per month as allowance.
A loan waiver for farmers and the landless engaged in agrarian practices has also been promised in the Congress manifesto, sources privy to details said. Men who have crossed 58-years of age will be eligible for Rs 5,100 as an old-age pension, while the same amount of pension will be given to women after 55 years of age.
According to a report, Haryana has the highest unemployment rate in the country at nearly 29%. The cash doles for unemployed educated youth, Congress hopes, will turn the tide in its favour with Haryana having sizable youth voters. To cater to such massive cash doles from the government coffers will be a difficult task, which Congress leaders will find it hard to explain.
Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is spearheading the elections for the grand old party in Jatland, has been seeking a white paper from the BJP government accusing the incumbents of burdening the state with massive debt. Hooda maintained that the state debt which was Rs 70,000 crore when he left the office as CM grew exponentially by nearly Rs 1 lakh crore in the last five years under Khattar regime.
While Hooda elaborates Haryana’s cash-strapped status with impunity, the Congress will have to match the promises in its manifesto with resource mobilisation measures.
Another manifesto promise is likely to be free travel for women in roadways buses on all days throughout the years. To ebb unemployment, Congress may announce a 50% reservation for youth in jobs. Farmers with landholding up to 2 acres will be given free power supply. Going by the manifesto promises, the party in dire straits is looking for every bit of promise to stay afloat.