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Priyanka announces 5 poll guarantees as Cong begins campaign in MP
Launching the Madhya Pradesh poll campaign from Jabalpur, Priyanka performed a special prayer on the banks of Narmada river, considered a lifeline for MP, at Gwarighat.
The list of scams in Madhya Pradesh is longer than the abuses Prime Minister Narendra Modi says were used to target him, Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Monday as she kick-started the party’s campaign for upcoming state assembly elections with an attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She also promised to implement five guarantees, including revival of the old pension scheme and up to 100 units of free electricity, if the Congress is voted to power.
Launching the poll campaign from Jabalpur, Priyanka performed a special prayer on the banks of Narmada river, considered a lifeline for MP, at Gwarighat. She was accompanied by 101 Brahmins, state Congress president Kamal Nath, party general secretary in-charge of the state JP Agrawal and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha.
“I have just offered prayers to Narmada maiya, I won’t lie... I wouldn’t ask for votes. I came here to make you aware about the rising corruption cases. For the past 18 years, the residents of MP have been facing harassment and being used,” she said at a rally held in Jabalpur.
The rally started with a man dressed as Lord Hanuman walking up the stage as Congress workers blew conches.
“There is a list of 225 corruption cases in MP. The list is longer than the list of abuses shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Every month, a new scam happens in MP,” she said in a reference to the PM’s remark during the Karnataka election campaign where he warned people against “fake guarantees” by the Congress
She also accused the ruling party of making fake announcements. “In MP, more than 22,000 announcements were made by the BJP government but they fulfilled only 1 %. In the last three years, only 21 government jobs were provided in the state by the BJP government,” she said.
Referring to the collapse of six idols installed on the Mahakaleshwar temple premises due to strong winds in MP’s Ujjain city on May 28, she said: “The BJP has not even spared gods.”
The 900-metre corridor at the renowned Mahakaleshwar Temple, the first phase of which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October last year, is being built at a cost of ₹856 crore.
During the rally, Priyanka also announced the Congress’s five guarantees — implementation of old pension scheme, LPG cylinder for ₹500, ₹1,500 per month to women of MP, free electricity up to 100 unit and half bill up to 200 unit of electricity and resumption of the farm loan waiver scheme announced in 2018 — if the party is voted to power in the assembly elections due later this year.
“The Congress government in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh has restored the OPS. Our government in Karnataka has cleared the five guarantees (the poll promises made by the party there),” Priyanka said. “In MP too, all the five guarantees will be fulfilled just after coming into power,” she added.
Referring to the Congress’s recent victories in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, the Congress leader hit out at the BJP’s “double-engine government” remark during elections. “We have seen a lot of double and triple-engine governments, but people of Himachal and Karnataka have given a befitting reply in the polls,” she said.
Double engine government” is a term used by the BJP to claim having a ruling dispensation of the party in the state and Centre was beneficial to people in terms of development.
The BJP, however, hit back. “Priyanka Gandhi ji was saying right that people don’t have faith but started performing rituals. She was actually exposing her own party leaders’ plan who have been trying their best to establish themselves as Hanuman Bhakt, Narmada Maiya Bhakt and Ram Bhakt to win the election but nobody will believe Congress,” BJP spokesperson Ashish Agrawal said.
(With inputs from Monika Pandey from Jabalpur)
