106 page’ Vachan Patra’ released by Congress as manifesto for Madhya Pradesh elections

Congress party’s 106-page manifesto for Madhya Pradesh, released on Tuesday, continued to follow the strategy that helped it win the Karnataka elections earlier this year. It included 59 promises, including five guarantees announced in May, and seven rights—to a home, water, health, education, fertilizer, employment, and a minimum income.

Women to get benefits from Congress

Every woman in the state will receive a monthly allowance of 1,500 rupees, and monthly cooking gas cylinders will cost 500 rupees each. Women will also receive free bus service, free electricity up to 100 units per month, and 50% off between 100 and 200 units, and the Old Pension Scheme will be reinstated for government workers.

Other promises include a state-owned IPL team, a 25 lakh health insurance plan for every household, a 10 lakh life insurance plan for every household, and the purchase of cow dung from farmers for two rupees per kilogram. However, it is unclear what role the state should play in a for-profit sports league.

Also Read: Various Welfare Schemes Announced In Assam

Will Congress rule out BJP in coming Madhya Pradesh elections

On November 17, Madhya Pradesh will vote to elect a new government. The Bharatiya Janata Party has dominated the state for 20 years, with the exception of the 15 months from December 2018 to March 2020. Analysts predicted that the promises’ financial impact may reach tens of thousands of crores, though it wasn’t immediately obvious what that impact would be.

MP politics on the path of give-aways

It appears that the election will center on the state’s welfare and giveaway programs. In the previous six months, the existing administration, which is run by the Bharatiya Janata Party, has announced pre-election benefits totaling 80,000 crore, including a monthly allowance of 1,250 for every woman eligible in the state and a Rs. 450 cooking gas cylinder for each impoverished family.

State Congress president and former chief minister Kamal Nath unveiled the 106-page manifesto titled “Vachan patra,” in which he also pledged that, if elected, his administration would conduct surveys of all the state’s poor residents to ensure that no one was left behind and a caste survey to improve welfare programs for castes according to their representation in the state’s population. Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, has called for a national caste census in an effort to win over the Other Backward Class (OBC) support and split the BJP vote with the cry “Jitni Aabadi Utna Haq” (right as per population proportion).