New Delhi: Promising ‘Seven Guarantees’ including Rs 2,000 per month to women, a gas cylinder for Rs 500, besides a caste survey, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday unveiled the party’s manifesto for all sections for the October 5 Haryana Assembly elections.
The party, which was at the helm in the state for two consecutive terms till 2014, announced it would provide LPG cylinders for Rs 500 each, give jobs to two lakh youth, and 300 units of free electricity to each household, besides increase the old-age pension to Rs 6,000 per month and hold a caste census.
For the farmers, the manifesto promised to establish a legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP) of crops. In his remarks, Kharge said: “Other than these seven guarantees, named ‘Saat Waade, Pakke Iraade’, our 53-page manifesto will be explained in detail later in Chandigarh, but these promises will surely be fulfilled by us.”
He said the manifesto would focus on providing benefits to families, empowering women, supporting the youth, strengthening social security, and improving the lives of backward classes, farmers, and the poor. At the manifesto launch ceremony, party General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, former Haryana and Rajasthan Chief Ministers Bhupinder Hooda and Ashok Gehlot, respectively, Haryana party chief Udai Bhan and Punjab Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, among others, were also present.
Earlier, state party chief Udai Bhan said a Congress government in Haryana would provide Rs 2,000 per month to every woman above 18 years to empower them. LPG gas cylinders at Rs 500, Rs 6,000 pension to senior citizens, restoration of the old-pension scheme, filling of two lakh vacant government jobs, and making Haryana drug-free were other promises. “On the lines of the Chiranjeevi scheme in Rajasthan, started during the stint of Ashok Gehlot, Rs 25 lakh free treatment will be provided in Haryana, besides 300 free units of electricity, plots of 100 yards to poor families and we will ensure legal MSP guarantee,” he added.