Mumbai: The Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled Telangana and Himachal Pradesh, along with the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, strongly countered the BJP's allegations on Saturday, refuting claims that the Congress had failed to fulfill its pre-election promises in these states.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar held a press conference in Mumbai.
Shivakumar stated, “Mahayuti leaders should visit my state to see how Congress' welfare guarantees are benefiting people. Karnataka is an exemplary state for the entire country because we have implemented reliable schemes to provide relief to the people suffering due to the inflation caused by the Central government. Under the ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ scheme, 1.22 crore women are receiving Rs2,000 per month. The ‘Gruha Jyoti’ scheme is benefiting 1.64 crore households. Through the ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme, 4.08 crore people are being provided free rice. Under the ‘Shakti’ scheme, 320 crore women have traveled for free. Through the ‘Yuva Nidhi’ scheme, 5 lakh students are receiving Rs3,000 per month.”
Just like Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh also faced “Operation Lotus,” Himachal CM Sukhu said adding, the people placed their trust in the guarantees provided by the Congress and the work done by the government. Sukhu stated that as soon as the Congress government came to power, the old pension scheme was implemented in the very first cabinet meeting.
Incidentally, speaking at Akola, Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Congress saying wherever the party forms a government, that state becomes an ATM of the party's 'shahi parivar' (royal family), and named Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka as examples of this.
Revanth Reddy accused the PM of lying about the scheme pertaining to his state. “We are systematically implementing the guarantees. Farm loans of 22,22,067 farmers were waived, which cost the government Rs 17,869 crore,” he said.
