Delhi’s women voters have reason to be happy. Like their sisters in 11 other states who receive some form of cash transfer from the respective governments, they too will get over Rs 2,000 per month regardless of the party voted to power. The reason? All the three main parties in Delhi have given their best pre-poll offers.
On the last day of filing nominations, the BJP national president J.P. Nadda announced that if the BJP is voted to power, it would give Rs 2,500 to women. The BJP’s offer matches Congress’ offer of Rs 2,500 per month, while the ruling AAP promised to give Rs 2,100 to them.
While both AAP and Congress have announced most of their promises, the BJP took time to formulate its manifesto promises. This is only part one of the promises, Nadda said, adding, “the second and third parts will also be presented soon.”
#WATCH | #DelhiElection2025 | BJP national president and Union Minister JP Nadda says, "Families using LPG will get a Rs 500 subsidy per cylinder, and on Holi and Diwali, they will receive one free cylinder each...we will give Rs 21,000 to the pregnant women..." pic.twitter.com/ruRq1Zcrf8
— ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2025
As Nadda made a slew of promises, it was clear that the debate over freebies was essentially buried during the Delhi polls. The political parties have witnessed that freebies play a huge role in even swinging tough elections. All the three parties have made similar promises, only the amount offered for various schemes differ. The Delhi voters will have a tough choice in picking the team with the best offer.
The BJP chief announced that poor women will be given a subsidy of Rs 500 on gas cylinders, and they would even get a cylinder free on two Hindu festivals, Holi and Diwali.
In a move to reach out to slum dwellers, Atal Canteen Scheme will be launched in Delhi, under which food will be provided in slum areas for Rs 5.
Pregnant women will be given Rs 21,000; the pension of people between 60 and 70 years will be increased by Rs 500, while people above 70 years of age, disabled and widowed women will be given Rs 3,000 as pension instead of the current Rs 2,500, as per the BJP manifesto.
The party also promised to extend the Union government’s Ayushman Bharat scheme to Delhi, offering health insurance cover for Rs 5 lakh, while an additional Rs 5 lakh will be given by the state government.
People above 70 years of age will be given an insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh, Nadda said.
So, what makes the BJP’s promises different from others offered by its rivals? Nadda said the BJP has a higher record in fulfilling its promises. “In 2014, BJP had made 500 promises, out of which 499 promises, which is 99.99 per cent were fulfilled. In 2019, the BJP made 235 promises, out of which we fulfilled 225 promises, which is. 95.50 per cent. The remaining promises have also reached the stage of implementation,” the BJP chief said.
The key promise is that of cash transfer for women. “When the BJP government is formed in Delhi, women will be given Rs 2,500 every month under the Mahila Samridhi Yojana in Delhi. We have done this in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra,” Nadda said.
Hitting out at the AAP, the BJP hinted that it may shut down Mohalla clinics saying they were dens of corruption. “There has been a scam of about Rs 300 crore in the Mohalla clinics of Aam Aadmi Party. These scams will be investigated after the BJP government is formed in Delhi.”
The BJP president said no political party would have worked with so much detail on its manifesto as they have. “To prepare our Sankalp Patra, we took about 1,80,000 feedbacks, held discussions with 62 sections, discussed it in 12,000 small and big meetings and BJP MPs, MLAs and councilors have discussed it with the people by going to every corner of Delhi through LED vans.”
After Nadda announced the first set of promises, former Delhi CM Kejriwal took a swipe at the saffron party saying the party has forgotten about what Prime Minister Narendra Modi said about freebies. “Have they got it approved from Modi. PM should now say that Kejriwal was right in running these schemes.”
