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Gujarat elections: Congress promises 1 million jobs, old pension scheme
Polling for the 182-member Gujarat legislative assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5 while the counting of votes will be done on December 8.
The Congress on Saturday released its manifesto for the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections, making 11 key promises, including one million jobs in government and semi-government departments, implementation of old pension scheme, free health cover of up to ₹10 lakh, LPG cylinder at ₹500 and farm loan waiver of up to ₹3 lakh.
Polling for the 182-member Gujarat legislative assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5 while the counting of votes will be done on December 8.
In its manifesto, the Congress also promised 300 units of free electricity every month, unemployment allowance of ₹3,000 per month, ₹2,000 pension to divyangs (differently abled), widows, senior citizens and single women.
The manifesto was released by Rajasthan chief minister and Congress’s in-charge for Gujarat elections Ashok Gehlot at the state party headquarters.
“As suggested by party leader Rahul Gandhi, we will form a commission for the implementation of our manifesto and turn it into a government document after the Congress forms a government in the state,” Ghelot told reporters. “We will maintain the sanctity of our manifesto.”
He claimed the manifesto will help the Congress “accomplish its goal of winning 125 seats” (out of 182) in the Gujarat assembly elections.
On the occasion, Congress’s manifesto committee chairman Dipak Babaria told reporters that the party interacted with nearly 6.5 million people before preparing the poll document. He further said that if voted to power, the Congress would restore the name of the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium at Motera in Ahmedabad as Sardar Patel Cricket Stadium.
The stadium is run by the Gujarat Cricket Association, which is part of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Hitting out at the Congress, which has been out of power in the western state for over two decades, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the party has once again ignored India’s first home minister Sardar Patel and that it has no moral right to talk about him.
“The entire complex is called Sardar Patel Sports Enclave. It houses 22 different complexes and one of them is the cricket stadium called Narendra Modi stadium,” said state BJP media co-incharge Zubin Ashara. “. The Congress should fact check before making such claims.”
The Congress also promised to waive loans of up to ₹3 lakh of all fishermen besides opening 3,000 English-medium schools. It also promised to provide free education to girls in the state until their postgraduation.
Gehlot also said that the New Pension Scheme, introduced by the NDA government in 2003, will be discarded in Gujarat and the Old Pension Scheme will be implemented in its place if the party is voted to power.
The party promised to fill nearly one million “vacant posts” in government and semi-government departments, adding that 50% jobs will be reserved for women. It also promised scholarships of up to ₹20,000 to the needy students, a slash of 25% in the fees presently charged by schools and colleges.
The party also announced compensation of ₹4 lakh to kin of those died of Covid-19 in the state. It also promised ₹5 per litre subsidy to milk producers. The manifesto also promises to give “justice” to the victims of the Morbi bridge tragedy in October.
The BJP, which has been in power in the state for the last 27 years, accused the Congress of not fulfilling its poll promises of farm waiver in states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
“Congress had announced farm loan waiver in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh as a poll promise but four and half years later it was not implemented. They promised to give monthly stipend of ₹5,000 to every unemployed youth in Rajasthan but have not delivered,” BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told reporters in Ahmedabad. “They talk about gas cylinders at a subsidized rate of ₹500, but has the Congress government in other states including Rajasthan delivered a cylinder at ₹500?”
