In Congress manifesto for Haryana, a promise to pay women Rs 2000 per month, LPG cylinders at Rs 500 and free medical treatment up to Rs 25 lakh

Kharge announced that once the Congress government is formed in Haryana, a caste census shall also be conducted in the state. They also said the “creamy layer for the OBCs shall also be enhanced to Rs. 10 lakh”. The BJP recently increased this creamy layer from Rs. 6 lakh to Rs. 8 lakh in Haryana after the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

From women to the youth

“Our guarantees have been divided into seven categories… The first is more power to women. We are promising Rs. 2000 per month and we shall definitely fulfil it. LPG cylinders shall be given at Rs. 500. Modi ji’s government keeps increasing prices, but we shall continue to reduce them. Be it an old age pension, widow pension, or Divyang pension, we shall implement it all. Old age pension shall be of Rs. 6000 per month, widow pension and Divyang pension shall also be of Rs. 6000 per month. OAP shall be implemented fully,” said Kharge.

“To ensure a guaranteed future for the youth, we shall fill up the two lakh vacant jobs in Haryana. No government is filling up these vacant posts. We have said before that there are 30-35 lakh vacant jobs in Central Government departments, but the Union government is not filling these posts,” he said.

“Each household shall be given 300 units of free electricity and free medical treatment up to Rs. 25 lakh — our brother Ashok Gehlot had started this in Rajasthan, the same model shall be implemented in Haryana. Poor people and farmers stand to benefit from these decisions. To provide a house to the poor, we shall give them a free 100 sq yd plot having two rooms,” Kharge said.

Talking about farmers, Kharge said, “Rahul Gandhi ji had been fighting for it. We are also fighting for it. Farmers had been demanding a legal guarantee for MSP. We had promised it ahead of the Parliament polls too. We have included it in our manifesto. We shall definitely give it”.

The Congress national president said the party raised of caste census ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. “In Haryana too, once we form the government we shall get the caste census done. We aim to identify all the castes, where they stand, and how much is their representation in various areas including jobs, education institutes etc. Which is why it is very important to assess their actual standing,” said Kharge.

Sign of failure

Mocking at the BJP’s double-engine government slogan, Kharge said, “Haryana used to be an extremely prosperous state. State governments functioning at the behest of the Centre ruined Haryana. Suicides are increasing. The state that used to be considered as the No 1 state in the country was ruined by the BJP government. Modi ji is especially responsible for it”.

“I was a railways minister earlier. An engine is used to take the train forward, but to bring it back, another engine is required to pull the train back. This is the definition of their [BJP] government’s double-engine government. if we need to take Haryana on the path of progress once again, we need to get the Congress government back. It is my promise that once Congress government is formed, we shall implement all these seven guarantees that we have announced today”.

Talking about BJP’s former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar being replaced by Nayab Singh Saini ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Kharge said, “Where is the chief minister who was here for 9.5 years [referring to Manohar Lal Khattar]. He was pulled back by his party because he could not perform. This is a sign of failure. If anybody performs well, he would not have been replaced just a few months ahead of the elections. Nobody can perform excellently in six months [referring to Nayab Singh Saini]. It is obvious he would have kept looking at Modi ji for directions”.

Comparing Rahul Gandhi with Prime Minister Modi, Kharge said, “Rahul Gandhi ji’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, Bharat Nyay Yatra had been our way of establishing direct connect with the people. But, today the BJP government does not maintain a direct connection with people. They behave like a Doordarshan government. Modi ji gets into a crowd of 15-20 people and gets pictures clicked. He does not go among hundreds of people, and only meets selective people, selective media, and selective journalists. Others take his darshan from far away — dur se hi darshan karte hain”.

Kharge also raked up the attack by the Bharatiya Janata Party on Rahul Gandhi over his comments during his recent visit to the US. “They all are talking about Rahul Gandhi. Doesn’t he have freedom? If he visits the US and makes some remark, you criticise it. He visits the UK and says something, you make an issue out of it… Arre, yahan aap democracy ka satyanaash kar rahe ho. Modi ji went to several countries, he abused the Congress party. Does he have only one issue?” he asked while talking to reporters later.

“World leaders who visit India ask about democracy. How’s it going? How is it working? But, they [BJP] had been targeting Rahul Gandhi ji and the Congress party. We shall not let it continue. We shall not get scared and we shall continue to face them and fight them,” he added.

Haryana Assembly elections will be held on October 5, and votes will be counted on October 8.