MYSURU: The state government’s mega convention to launch the much-awaited Gruha Lakshmi scheme, one of the five guarantees promised in the poll manifesto of the Congress party, on Wednesday turned out to be a platform for party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to lash out at PM Narendra Modi and ask people to oust the “fascist” union government headed by him.
Under the scheme, each woman head of a family will be given Rs 2,000 a month. Speaking after launching the scheme here, Rahul termed it the world’s largest welfare scheme for women. The country will be strong only if women are empowered. Modi had accused the Congress of making false promises during campaigning for the May 10 Assembly elections. “But within 100 days of Congress forming government, we implemented four of the five guarantees promised. All four are meant to empower women,” he said.
Rahul said Congress is happy to fulfil the promises it made to women, especially sisters, on the “Raksha Bandhan” day.
Training his guns on BJP, Rahul said the saffron party works only for the welfare of capitalists, especially for the “vikas” of two or three friends of the PM. But Congress works for people’s welfare. “We work for the welfare of women, youth, BCs, SCs, STs, and minorities. Our concern is no one should be left behind,” he added.
Recalling his ‘Bharat Jodo’ yatra in Karnataka, Rahul said, “We listened to people’s grievances and the guarantees were their suggestion and not a strategy devised by any think tank. During my 600-km yatra in Karnataka alone, we understood that price rise was the main problem among women we met.
Cong will implement all promises, says Rahul
“They (women) suffered due to the rise in the prices of LPG, petrol and diesel. This made us formulate the five guarantees. The Congress will always stand by its promises. We do not make false promises,” Rahul said.
Kharge exhorted the people to come together to save democracy and the Constitution. People and society will be affected if the Constitution is weakened. He alleged that attempts are being made to destabilise the country’s democratic set-up. Kharge made use of the event to highlight the achievements made during the Congress rule by referring to airports, railway stations and other projects. “But Modi is taking credit for all the achievements of the Congress,” he said.
On the importance of Gruha Lakshmi , Kharge said it will give respite to women from unprecedented price rise because of the BJP rule at the Centre. The saffron party used all possible means to stall the implementation of the five guarantees, but the will of the people of Karnataka prevailed.
“Financial empowerment of women is the bedrock of progress and we will continue to implement women-centric schemes,” he said. He said the successful implementation of guarantees in Karnataka has drawn national attention and has even made Congress units in other states to work on similar ideas. “I hope the Karnataka government will soon launch Yuva Nidhi to provide financial assistance to unemployed graduates at the earliest,” he added.