Congress announces ‘Five Guarantees’ for Maharashtra, Telangana’s ‘Six’ wait

Interestingly, the manifesto released by AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge repeats many of the promises previously made to the people of Telangana—promises that helped bring Congress to power but remain unfulfilled even after 11 months in office.

Hyderabad: Never short of promises, the Congress-led Maha Vikas Agadhi on Sunday released its manifesto for the Maharashtra polls, listing out five guarantees, much on the same lines of the Six Guarantees it had boasted of prior to the Assembly elections in Telangana.

Interestingly, the manifesto released by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, repeats much of the same promises that were made to the people of Telangana, using which the Congress came to power here, but failed to implement even after 11 months of being in power.

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According to the manifesto, the Mahalakshmi scheme’s Maharashtra version promises women Rs.3,000 per month. This was Rs.2,500 a month in Telangana, and still remains on paper.

The manifesto also assures a caste census and to remove the 50 per cent ceiling on reservation, in line with Tamil Nadu. The same census began after 10 months in Telangana, but is facing stringent opposition from the people, more so because the Congress had collected applications from them in the name of its ‘Praja Palana’ programme, with the applications later found flying around on the streets.

The Five Guarantees also includes another unkept promise from Telangana – the one where the Congress promises the youth seeking jobs of a monthly stipend of Rs.4,000. Another repetition, again an unkept one, is the financial assistance for farmers. The Maharashtra version promises Rs.50,000 each to farmers who repay their loans on time. The crop loan waiver in Telangana, though it raised hopes of the 40 lakh farmers in Telangana, now has over 18 lakh farmers still running around officials, literally begging for their loans to be waived off.

The Rythu Bharosa scheme, which was to replace Rythu Bandhu’s Rs.10,000 with Rs.15,000 per acre, and an allowance of Rs.12,000 for farm labourers, are both to take off in Telangana, in turn driving farmers here into despair and misery, and back to greedy moneylenders.

The free bus service for women and a health insurance scheme are the only two which have been launched in Telangana, and have been repeated in Maharashtra.

Interestingly, despite massive protests across the State over his government failing to keep its promises, and a belligerent BRS continuing to question the failed implementation of the Six Guarantees, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had on Saturday brazenly claimed at a press conference in Mumbai that all the Six Guarantees assured to the people of Telangana were implemented!