The Congress lined up two of its serving Chief Ministers and a Deputy Chief Minister in the Maharashtra capital on Saturday to refute the BJP’s charge that the party does not follow through on its poll promises.
At a press conference, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, his Himachal Pradesh counterpart Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said Congress-ruled States were performing better and their governments had kept all their promises. Listing out the implementation of their party’s guarantees in their respective States, they said every Congress-ruled government in the country had implemented the schemes and projects the party promised.
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“I have come here to invite Mahayuti leaders from all the three parties to visit Karnataka and see what we have promised, delivered, and how the people of Karnataka have benefited. [Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha] Rahul Gandhi walked the streets of this country and saw the issues people were suffering from, including price rise of every commodity. We are not looking at votes but development of the State,” Mr. Shivakumar said. None of the schemes in operation since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru to Manmohan Singh had been withdrawn, he said.
Mr. Sukhu spoke of his government’s decision to restore the Old Pension Scheme and its positive impact. “Any person who was getting ₹5,000 per month under the National Pension System earlier, now gets ₹50,000 under the Old Pension Scheme. Our government successfully countered ‘Operation Lotus’ of the BJP,” he said, alluding to the alleged attempts of the BJP to poach its MLAs and unseat the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh. “People of Maharashtra have to decide whether toppling a government with the use of money is democracy,” he said.
Slams PM’s remark
The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister also took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his ‘Ek hai to safe hain’ (We are safe if we are together) comment a day earlier while campaigning in Maharashtra. “Our differences bind us together because we come from different cultures, regions and traditions. People who speak such things, it is they who do not believe in the unity of this country. Our culture is to keep our country united,” he said.
Mr. Reddy also joined issue, claiming Mr. Modi was spreading lies about the Congress. “In 10 months, our government gave 50,000 jobs to the youth in the State. We are systematically implementing the guarantees. Farm loans of 22,22,067 farmers were waived, which cost the government ₹17,869 crore,” he said.
The Telangana Chief Minister took potshots at the ruling BJP in Maharashtra. “It does not have any success story to boast of in Maharashtra. It is transferring all the big-ticket investment projects from Maharashtra to Gujarat,” he said, urging people to vote out the party from the State.
Published - November 09, 2024 10:34 pm IST
