Congress’ 7 guarantees to Rajasthan, caste census part of their manifesto; Kharge calls BJP “jhoot ka saudagar”

Four days before Rajasthan goes to polling on November 25, the Congress party has released their poll manifesto with seven guarantees and also assured the much talked about caste census. The grand old party has promised to conduct a caste survey in Rajasthan if elected back to power, assuring Other Backward Classes (OBC) benefits proportionate to their population. “The objective is not to harass anyone but the purpose is to show the reality of the poor and people from backward class as where they stand. The purpose is to benefit all. We will do the caste census at any cost”, said Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge while unveiling the manifesto on Tuesday. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was seated along with him. During the passage of women reservation bill in the parliament, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had demanded a caste census while questioning if the central government has compromised with the interests of the OBC without proper and proportionate representation.

The seven guarantees assured are-

1: Rs 10,000 per annum to women heads per household.

2: Government to purchase cow dung at Rs 2 per kg from cow herders

3: First year students of government colleges will be provided a laptop or a tablet upon admission

4: Rs 15 lakh insurance coverage to every family affected by natural calamities

5: Opportunity for every child to receive free Elglish medium education

6: Gas cylinder at Rs 500 for families under BPL and National Food Securities Act

7: Implementation of old pension scheme

Congress’ manifesto came five days after BJP launched theirs on November 16. BJP has promised a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe paper leaks and other alleged scams in the Congress Government if voted to power. Amongst other slew of promises, BJP has also assured a subsidy of ₹450 per LPG cylinder for Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries and 2.5 lakh government jobs in Rajasthan. Upping their pro women sentiment, BJP had pledged ‘mahila thana’, women police station in every district and ‘mahila desk’, women desk in every police station besides an ‘anti-romeo squad’ in every city.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge while calling BJP “Jhoot ka Saudagar” (trader of lies) questioned if BJP had ever fulfilled their promise Rs 15 lakh to every Indian since 2014. Congress has also promised 10 lakh jobs over the period of 5 years if they come back to power.