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Punjab polls: Cong puts up ‘united face’, releases manifesto based on Sidhu’s model
Chandigarh : On the last day of campaigning for the state polls, the Congress on Friday put up a “united face” in Punjab with the top state leaders jointly releasing the 13-point election manifesto based mostly on its state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu’s oft-repeated “Punjab model”
Chandigarh : On the last day of campaigning for the state polls, the Congress on Friday put up a “united face” in Punjab with the top state leaders jointly releasing the 13-point election manifesto based mostly on its state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu’s oft-repeated “Punjab model”.
The manifesto, which includes a raft of freebies and other populist promises to woo the women voters, poor, unemployed youth, farmers and traders, was released by Sidhu, chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, campaign committee chairman Sunil Jakhar and Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Chaudhary among others in Chandigarh. It promises ₹1,100 per month and eight free cooking gas cylinders for women, cash incentives for girl students, hike in the monthly old-age pension to ₹3,100 from the existing ₹1,500, free education for all needy students and scholarships for OBC and general category students, interest-free loans for startups, free health services in all in state-run hospitals and government procurement of pulses, oilseeds and corn at minimum support price, besides free education.
The Congress has also assured to end mafia raj by creating government corporations of liquor and sand mining and through better regulation of transport and cable sector, besides doing away with inspector raj through digitization of services. The state Congress president has been advocating state control over sand, liquor, transport and cable to enhance the government resources. He had also promised ₹2,000 per month for women, but the party has pared it to ₹1,100 in its manifesto.
Releasing the two-page manifesto at a press conference, Sidhu said that it was based on (former Congress president) Rahul Gandhi’s vision which was presented as the “Punjab model”. “In addition to bringing change in the politics of Punjab, it is necessary to end the mafia raj. For this, there is a need to change the old system of vested interests which had turned politics into business,” he said.
While stressing on teamwork, Channi said that Sidhu would have an important role as the party would set the agenda for the government. “We will work together and run the government as a team,” he said, referring to the state chief’s “Jittega Punjab” model. Sidhu and Channi, who was handpicked by the party leadership to replace Capt Amarinder Singh as the chief minister in September last year, were not on the same page over some government appointments, populist announcements and other decisions. There were also differences of opinion between the two during the selection of candidates.
A Congress leader said the party leadership had tried to do the balancing act and put up a united face. “Sidhu’s model has been taken as the manifesto and Channi is going to implement it if the party retains power,” he said, calling the event a “photo-op” as almost all the promises had already been announced by the two leaders in the past few days.
The Congress had last month set up a jumbo panel under Rajya Sabha member Partap Singh Bajwa who held discussions with different stakeholders, besides the chief minister, state unit chief and others. Bajwa was not present at the manifesto release.
In the 2017 assembly polls, the party had prepared a comprehensive 128-page document on its vision and roadmap for a “Nawan Naroan Punjab”. “The party could have come up with a thick booklet on promises this time too, but we wanted to make it very focused,” said a party leader who was at the press conference.
