Congress promises Rs 2,000 per month to women-led households in Karnataka if elected

Titled Gruha Lakshmi scheme, it would benefit 1.5-crore housewives, the KPCC said

AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday unveiled the Congress’s new “guarantee” of giving Rs 2,000 every month to all women-led households, in a major outreach aimed at almost half of Karnataka’s voters.

Priyanka announced the Gruha Lakshmi scheme while addressing a big Na Nayaki convention.

“This scheme is for those women working day and night, helping build society. Women who head a household will get Rs 2,000 per month, which is Rs 24,000 a year, directly sent to your bank account,” Priyanka said.

Last week, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, too, said he was working on a similar cash scheme for women-led households in the upcoming 2023-24 Budget.

Also last week, Congress promised the Gruha Jyoti scheme in which all households will get 200 units of free electricity.

Karnataka has 2.55 crore women voters out of the total 5.15 crore.

Urging women to evaluate how their life has been with the BJP in power, Priyanka brought up corruption as an issue. "I am told that the situation in Karnataka is very shameful. I'm told your ministers are taking 40 per cent commission on jobs. I’m told that Rs 1.5 lakh crore of your money has been looted through corruption,” she said, adding that Rs 3,200 crore out of Rs 8,000 crore meant for Bengaluru development is going towards commission. “There are shameful scams like the PSI scam where police posts are being sold. Is this what you expect from people in power? Borewells, driving licences, housing...everything needs a bribe!” she said.

The government, Priyanka said, did not help garment workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Farmers are committing suicide and 2.5 lakh govt jobs are unfilled. Crimes against women are sky high with 40 such crimes taking place in a single day. You know how much you have to pay for a gas cylinder and how much it was earlier. Life has become unaffordable and nobody is holding the government accountable,” she said.

The BJP government is “busy creating distractions” by changing syllabus in textbooks, Priyanka charged. “The entire policy functions to benefit a few people who are becoming richer and richer, and the rest of the country poorer,” she said, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of crony capitalism. “PSUs have been sold to PM’s rich friends.”

Manifesto for women

Priyanka said the Congress will prepare a separate manifesto for women in Karnataka. “When we first made a women’s manifesto in Uttar Pradesh, many people laughed at us. While nothing came out of it in terms of votes, we managed to make every political party notice women and respond to their needs. Today, even the BJP has been forced to put ads in the newspapers showing what they'll do for women,” she said. Urging women to recognise their power, she said: "It is you and only you who can make a change. Make this election about you and your future."