Bhopal: Nearly five months before the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, it is raining freebies and “guarantees” for voters. While AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched the grand-old party’s election campaign in Jabalpur on Monday with five “guarantees” that if voted to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit the state on June 27 and sound the poll bugle Are.
Both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress in the state have prepared a long list of announcements to woo the voters. Obviously, both the parties are competing to make the big announcement. The BJP under the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has implemented ‘Laadli Bahna Yojana’ and has upgraded its previous scheme ‘Laadli Laxmi Yojana 0.2’, this scheme earned the tag of ‘Mama’ (Uncle) for Chief Minister Chouhan Was .
The BJP had recently made two more promises to the farmers – waiving off the interest on loan amount of the farmers, increasing the amount given by the state government under the ‘Kisan Samman Yojana’ by Rs 2,000 per year. With this, the farmers of Madhya Pradesh will get Rs 12,000 (Rs 6,000 from the Center and Rs 6,000 from the state government) in three installments. These latest announcements were made a few days ago in the presence of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.
Addressing the Vijay Shankhnaad rally in Jabalpur, Priyanka announced five “guarantees” that will be fulfilled if the Congress is voted to power. The five election promises are: Rs 1,500 monthly payment for women, provision of gas cylinders for Rs 500, 100 units of electricity free and halving of electricity bills for 200 units, introduction of old pension scheme and farm loan waiver.
Overall, both the parties are competing with each other in giving away freebies ahead of the election, leaving it up to the voters to decide which one is better. In other words, the BJP has promised to provide up to Rs 24,000 (Rs 12000 for women and Rs 12000 for farmers) in direct cash per year till date. Whereas, the Congress is estimated to offer Rs 25,000 per year including Rs 18,000 per year under its ‘Nari Samman Yojana’ and a subsidized LPG cylinder for Rs 500.
The election manifestos of both the parties – BJP and Congress – which are in direct contest in the state assembly elections, are still being prepared and hence the cash amount and other promises are likely to increase. Chouhan, who was given the tag of “Ghosna Machine” (announcement machine) by the opposition, has now announced increasing the amount of financial assistance from Rs 49,000 to Rs 51,000 under the ‘Mukhya Mantri Kanya Vivah Yojana’.
Significantly, elections to the 230-member assembly in Madhya Pradesh are going to be held by the end of this year. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to retain power, while the opposition Congress is trying to wrest power from the saffron party.