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MSP, caste survey among Congress’s guarantees for Haryana voters
“We will implement these guarantees and that is why we have named it ‘Saat Vaade, Pakke Irade’,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, as he launched the poll manifesto at the party headquarters in Delhi.
The Congress on Wednesday promised a law on minimum support prices (MSPs), a caste survey and restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in Haryana, as it rolled out seven guarantees and underlined plans for farmers, women and young people in the northern state if voted to power in the October 5 assembly elections.
A legislation on MSP has been among the key demands of farmers camping at the Punjab-Haryana border since February 13. On July 24, a delegation of the cultivators met Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who assured the support of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to pressure the Centre over the key demand.
“We will implement these guarantees and that is why we have named it ‘Saat Vaade, Pakke Irade’,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, as he launched the poll manifesto at the party headquarters in Delhi.
“The way the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has ruined Haryana in 10 years, the Congress party will work to rectify it. Today, Haryana is surrounded by corruption, unemployment, deteriorating law and order and anarchy. Rahul Gandhi ji met the people during the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ to understand their problems. But (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji does not go among the public; he only meets selected people,” he added.
Polling in Haryana will take place on October 5 while the votes will be counted on October 8. The ruling BJP is hoping to win a third consecutive term while the Congress is hoping to ride on its momentum from the Lok Sabha elections – it won five of the 10 seats in the state and prevented a BJP sweep after a decade – to a rare assembly win.
Read more: Haryana election: Congress promises legal MSP, ₹6,000 pension in 7 guarantees
Kharge said the guarantees pertain to women, social security, youth, farmers, families and the poor.
The party announced an increase in the limit of creamy layer for OBCs from ₹8 lakh to ₹10 lakh. The creamy layer establishes a cut-off, below which people from OBC groups can avail reservations.
For women, the Congress promised gas cylinders for ₹500 and a monthly financial assistance of ₹2,000 to every woman between 18-60 years.
To strengthen social security, the party promised a ₹6,000 monthly pension for the elderly, disabled, and widows, and reinstating OPS.
The Congress promised to provide 300 units of free electricity and free medical treatment of up to ₹25 lakh. Besides, it said it will provide plots of around 900 sq ft and build two bedroom houses at a cost of ₹3.5 lakh for the poor.
The party also promised to fill 200,000 vacancies and offer jobs to young people.
Under farmers’ welfare, the Congress promised a legal guarantee for MSPs. It also said that it will erect a memorial for farmers who lost their lives during the protests against the now-withdrawn three agricultural laws. “All the farmers, who gave their lives and were martyred, we have promised to give jobs to their children,” Kharge said.
The contentious agricultural laws, which were passed in September 2020, were rolled back by the Centre in December 2021, after months of widespread protests by peasants, including in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
A farmers’ uprising has also gripped the Punjab-Haryana border since February 13, with the cultivators seeking legal guarantees for higher crop prices, relaxation of strict environmental regulations, pensions and withdrawal of police cases filed against them during the 2020-21 farmers’ protests against the now-repealed laws.
The latest round of protests are likely to be one of the key issues in the Haryana polls.
Promising a caste survey in Haryana, Kharge said such an exercise is necessary “so that every community knows where they stand in welfare schemes, education and job opportunities.”
Kharge said the welfare of journalists is also on the Congress’s agenda and it promises a cashless treatment facility for them in Haryana and increasing their pension.
Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and AICC senior observers for Haryana polls, Ashok Gehlot, Ajay Maken and Partap Singh Bajwa were also present at the event.
The upcoming elections are likely to be fought on a host of issues ranging from anti-incumbency against the BJP government to discontent around the Agnipath recruitment scheme and the farmers’ protest. The wrestlers’ protest against former MP and former Wrestling India Foundation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing allegations of sexual harassment, and caste fault lines are likely to be other issues.
