Congress' campaign push will be ITs guarantees: Vinay Kumar Sorake

The Congress high command has announced several guarantees that will be implemented for the people, he said.

Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake and Former Union Minister R L Jalappa (left) in Bengaluru. File photo | EPS

BENGALURU: Congress Campaign Committee chairman and former minister Vinay Kumar Sorake said the party’s campaign focus will be on the five guarantees implemented by the state government and the 25 guarantees promised under the five ‘nyays’ in its manifesto.

“The BJP has been criticising the guarantees since the beginning. If guarantees are a failure, the BJP should ask the women folk who attend their rallies to find out if this is so,” Sorake said.

At a press conference on Friday, he said party cadres will reach out to people at the booth level by distributing pamphlets highlighting the guarantees under ‘nyay’.

He pointed out that a II PUC rank-holder has claimed that the ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ guarantee helped his family, and a woman said that she had bought a fridge by saving the money.

“Women have been able to lead a better life. How much the BJP has contributed in this regard? If the BJP lies about the guarantees, the beneficiaries will teach them a lesson,” he said.

The Congress high command has announced several guarantees that will be implemented for the people, he said. These include a loan waiver for students, Mahalakshmi Yojana to give Rs 1 lakh per year to households, Rs 1 lakh for youth during apprenticeship, 30 lakh government jobs in which 50 per cent reservation will be given to women, he said.

He claimed that there is a pro-Congress wave in the country and the party will win 20 seats in the state.

BJP collected ‘hafta’, says Dr L Hanumanthaiah

Committee’s vice chairman and former RS member Dr L Hanumanthaiah said the BJP extorted Rs 6,500 crore through electoral bonds by using central agencies to raid companies. “Rs 300 crore were extorted from 15 companies alone and it is like collecting ‘hafta’.” In Karnataka, the ED and IT have issued notices to 30 MLAs, he added.

Rahul may campaign on April 17

KPCC campaign committee chairman Vinay Kumar Sorake said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to hit the campaign trail in Karnataka with rallies in Kolar and Mandya on April 17. Asked about former CM B S Yediyurappa mocking the Congress for campaigning in the name of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and DCM D K Shivakumar without Rahul, Sorake said Rahul will take part in the campaign soon, but the date is tentative.