Hollow guarantees: Congress’s pattern of unfulfilled promises
Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time,” aptly describes the Congress party’s growing trend of making hollow promises and guarantees across different states of India.
The Congress has seemingly devised a new strategy of using these promises as a tool to mislead voters and secure electoral victories. This pattern first emerged during the Karnataka Assembly elections, where the party promised five guarantees that remain largely unfulfilled. Following six guarantees in Telangana, they have now moved on to offer seven guarantees in Haryana, and may even go as far as proposing eight in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections.
During the 2023 Assembly elections in Telangana, Congress’ former president Sonia Gandhi announced six guarantees during a rally in Tukkuguda near Hyderabad on September 17, 2023. She affirmed her party’s commitment to fulfilling each of these promises.
Throughout the Telangana campaign, leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge repeatedly promised that these guarantees would be implemented within 100 days. To reinforce their pledges, the party distributed guarantee cards and signed bond papers to assure voters of their timely implementation.
Failure to deliver raises concerns on credibility
Rahul Gandhi went a step further, promising that the six guarantees would be codified into law in the first Cabinet meeting if the Congress was voted to power. He vowed that a legal framework would be put in place to make these guarantees binding. Yet, 10 months into the Congress’ rule, the promised law has not materialised, despite multiple Cabinet meetings and two Assembly sessions. This failure to deliver raises serious concerns about the credibility of similar guarantees being made by the Congress in other states.
Under the Mahalaxmi guarantee in Telangana, women were promised Rs 2,500 per month. However, no payments have been made under this scheme to date. Similarly, the Rythu Bharosa guarantee promised Rs 15,000 per acre annually to farmers and tenant farmers, along with Rs 12,000 per year for agricultural labourers. The party also pledged a bonus of Rs 500 per year for 10 varieties of crops. Yet, the investment support scheme under Rythu Bharosa has not been launched. To make matters worse, the existing Rythu Bandhu scheme from
KCR’s government, which offered Rs 10,000 to farmers, was discontinued. As a result, farmers received no support for the Kharif season, leading to widespread dissatisfaction.
The Gruha Jyoti guarantee, which promised 200 units of free electricity to every household, has also floundered. The scheme has failed to reach all below poverty line (BPL) families and over 90 lakh white ration card-holders, leaving many disappointed.
Meanwhile, the Indiramma Indlu guarantee, which promised 250 square yards of land to Telangana movement fighters and Rs 5 lakh for those without homes, remains unlaunched 10 months into Congress’s tenure.
The Yuva Vikasam guarantee, which promised the Vidya Bharosa card worth Rs 5 lakh for students, is yet to be implemented. Furthermore, the promised Telangana International Schools in every mandal are nowhere in sight. Under the Cheyutha guarantee, the Congress pledged Rs 4,000 monthly pensions for senior citizens. However, not only has this scheme not been launched, even the existing Rs 2,000 pension from the BRS government has been inconsistently distributed.
A major point of disillusionment has been the failure of the farm loan waiver, which the Congress had promised to complete by December 9, 2023. Despite this promise, loans for 22 lakh farmers remain unwaived, leading to growing frustration in the farming community. Tragically, there have even been instances of farmers taking their own lives due to financial stress.
The Congress also promised to provide government jobs to two lakh people within a year but has not completed a single recruitment drive during its 10-month tenure.
Similar failures have occurred in Karnataka, where the Congress’s five guarantees have been poorly implemented, leaving many people without the promised benefits. For instance, the Annadhatha scheme, which promised support to everyone, excluded many beneficiaries due to restrictive conditions. The Yuvanidhi scheme, meant to provide stipends for unemployed youth, has similarly failed to deliver.
Making same dubious promises in Haryana too
Now, with its “Saat Vaade, Pakke Irade” (Seven Promises, Firm Intentions) campaign, the Congress is offering seven guarantees in Haryana. Among these are a Rs 2,000 monthly honorarium for women aged between 18 and 60, and a Rs 6,000 old age pension for senior citizens, widows, and disabled individuals. Congress has also promised to reinstate the old pension scheme for employees. However, given the party’s failure to deliver on a Rs 4,000 pension in Telangana, these promises in Haryana seem equally dubious.
Other pledges, such as filling two lakh government vacancies under the “Bharti Vidhan” scheme, subsidising gas cylinders at Rs 500, providing free electricity up to 300 units, and offering 100 square-yard plots with pucca houses, are likely to follow the same trajectory of broken promises witnessed in Telangana and Karnataka.
It seems that the Congress has adopted a strategy of making grand promises to win elections, only to leave them unfulfilled once in power. The pattern of issuing numerous guarantees, without the political will or resources to implement them, has become their modus operandi.
It is now up to voters across states to see through these empty guarantees and demand accountability.
-T Harish Rao Siddipet
BRS MLA & former minister