Congress promises six guarantees in election manifesto for poll-bound Telangana

HYDERABAD: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday promised six guarantees to the people of Telangana while releasing its election manifesto for the southern state going to polls on November 30. The party named the six guarantees as ‘Abhaya Hastham’.

Under the ‘Mahalakshmi’ scheme, the party will give Rs 2,500 monthly financial assistance to women, gas cylinders at Rs 500 and free travel for women in TSRTC buses across the state. The party said it will also provide financial assistance of Rs 15,000 per acre to farmers, and tenant farmers; Rs 12,000 to agricultural labourers will be provided every year; a bonus of Rs 500 for paddy per quintal will be provided under ‘Rythu Bharosa’.

#WATCH | Hyderabad, Telangana: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge says, "…I challenge that no matter how much PM Modi and KCR make efforts together, still, Congress will come to power because the public understands the scams here. Also, his (KCR) retirement days are also… pic.twitter.com/E7XxmHBxOH

— ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2023

The party will provide 200 units of free electricity for all households under ‘Gruha Jyothi’ if it comes to power in the state, as per the election manifesto. Under the ‘Indiramma Indlu’ scheme, the party promises to provide a house site for families not owning a house and Rs 5 lakh financial assistance towards the construction of the house.

Under ‘Yuva Vikasam’ a financial assistance card worth Rs 5 lakh, will be provided to students which can be used in payment of college fees, read the Congress manifesto. All Telangana movement fighters will be provided with a 250 sq yards house site, as per the Congress election manifesto.

Under the ‘Cheyutha’, a monthly pension of Rs 4,000 will be provided to senior citizens, widows, disabled, beedi workers, single women, today tappers, weavers, AIDS and filaria patients and kidney patients undergoing dialysis. The party said health insurance of Rs 10 lakh will be provided.

The manifesto was launched amid the polling in Madhya Pradesh where voting for the 230-member Assembly is under way. Polling for the 70 seats of the 90-member Assembly began today at 8 am on Friday. Voting for the first phase in Chhattisgarh for 20 seats was held on November 7.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the six guarantees of Congress would help the people of Telangana realise their dreams.

“Congress party is determined to provide social justice, economic empowerment and unbridled progress to the people of Telangana. We created Telangana and we will not let the struggle and sacrifice of the movement go in vain due to the Commission Raj & loot of BRS. Our 6 guarantees shall help realise the dream of Bangaru Telangana”, the Congress president said in a post on X.

After launching the manifesto, Congress took to its official Twitter handle, reiterating that it had fulfilled all its promises in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. “Just as we fulfilled all our promises in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, we are similarly committed to fulfilling our promises to the people of Telangana,” Congress posted on X

Assembly elections in Telangana will be held on November 30. The counting of votes for the Telangana Assembly will be held along with those of four other poll-bound states on December 3.

In the previous Assembly election in 2018, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), previously known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), won 88 of the 119 seats, hogging 47.4 per cent of the total vote share. The Congress came in a distant second with just 19 seats. (ANI)