RAIPUR: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday made a slew of promises to the voters of Chhattisgarh, which included subsidised cooking gas cylinders, an upgrade of state-run schools, a loan waiver for self-help groups (SHGs) and free treatment to victims of road accidents, if her party retains power in the state.
The two-phase elections for the 90-member Assembly are due on November 7 and 17. Addressing a public rally at Khairagarh constituency, about 140 km from state capital Raipur, she said the Congress would launch Mahtari Nyay Yojana for women with Rs 500 subsidy per cooking gas cylinder, free electricity up to 200 units and loans to SHGs. The loans of women under Saksham Yojana will be written off and around 6,000 schools will be upgraded to Swami Atmanand English and Hindi medium schools.
Under the CM’s special health assistance scheme, help in the form of free treatment will be provided to victims of road or other accidents. Priyanka appreciated the Chhattisgarh model as far better than the Gujarat model and dubbed the latter as nothing more than a “delusion.”
In Chhattisgarh, she said, as many 66 minor forest produces get minimum support price. The Congress govt, if it retains power, will also purchase lentil Teivra from farmers at a support price. Priyanka said the Bhupesh Baghel government safeguarded the people of the state from not only the bad impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the difficult time of joblessness but also from the “bad policies” of the BJP-led Centre.
She attacked the BJP government for misleading the people in the name of religion and complicating the problems of the people by not arranging jobs, and resorting to policies that fueled inflation. “The nation is witnessing the worst record on unemployment in the last 45 years. But in Chhattisgarh, the unemployment rate is the lowest with no migration of people. The potential created in the state is encouraging other states to come to Chhattisgarh”, she said.
She praised the state flagship programme ‘Gauthan’ (cattle shed premises) that has given a major boost to the rural economy. “Our party works on the vision of Mahatma Gandhi that the nation cannot progress until the development and growth of rural areas,” she said. Priyanka stated that Congress has laid the foundation of the Indian Constitution that entitles the eligible citizen to the right to vote in a democracy. “The freedom fought against the British was not for the leaders but for the people of India,” she said.