Karnataka deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar countered the BJP’s claims in poll-bound Maharashtra that the Congress party had “failed” to fulfil the poll guarantees, by extending an open invitation to the Mahayuti leaders to visit Karnataka to get first-hand information from the people- the beneficiaries of the five guarantee schemes.
“I will arrange a special bus and chartered flight on behalf of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee for the leaders of the Maharashtra Mahayuti (BJP allied parties) to visit Karnataka to get information on our guarantees directly from the people,” said Shivakumar, while addressing a joint press conference in Mumbai on Saturday, along with chief ministers of Congress-ruled states of Telangana and Himachal Pradesh.
"The BJP had given false advertisements in newspapers in poll-bound Maharashtra regarding our guarantee schemes and I have come here to expose their lies. Mahayuti leaders are free to visit my state at any time and interact with the people directly. I will personally make arrangements for their visit,” said Shivakumar, adding that Karnataka's GDP, which was 8.2 per cent before the implementation of guarantees had increased to 10.2 per cent after the implementation of these schemes.
Warning the political parties and leaders spreading lies about the Congress’ guarantees of legal action, Shivakumar thanked the BJP leaders of Maharashtra for “creating” an opportunity for him to come to the state to showcase the good work of the Congress government and the commitment of his party.
Mocking at the BJP announcing similar guarantees during the polls, Shivakumar said, “BJP is copying our schemes and Prime Minister Modi and BJP leaders are now making poll promises to voters and announcing guarantee schemes during the elections in many states.
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Dismissing criticism of the guarantee schemes and dubbing them as poorly conceived schemes and a financial burden by the BJP, Shivakumar argued that the guarantee schemes were not implemented blindly.
“Our leader Rahul Gandhi who led the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, walked through Karnataka for 22 days interacting with lakhs of people from different walks of life and many people drew his attention to inflation and unemployment. So, we evolved the five guarantees to benefit the people,” said Shivakumar, adding that the annual allocation for the guarantees would be enhanced to Rs 56,000 crore from the current Rs 52,000 crore.
“As soon as our Congress government came to power after winning 136 seats, the first cabinet meeting gave in-principle approval for the implementation of the guarantees. Till date, 336 crore trips have been availed by women under Shakti Yojana (free bus service for women) and Rs 7,892 crores have been spent on the scheme,” said Shivakumar.
“Around 1.22 crore women get Rs 2,000 as monthly household allowance under Griha Lakshmi scheme, 1.65 crore families are availing free power under Griha Jyoti scheme. Annabhagya (free rice) is benefiting 4,27 crore people. Yuva Nidhi (unemployment allowance) is being given to fresh graduates and diploma holders for three years,” he explained. DKS further added that the Congress party had never walked back on its promises since the Nehru era to Manmohan Singh-led UPA rule.