Aam Aadmi Party has practically left no sector untouched when it comes to making pre-poll commitments in Gujarat. Now, on Friday, it was opposition Congress’s turn.
In the election year, Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor and former Union minister Bharatsinh Solanki announced a farm loan waiver up to Rs 3 lakh and 10-hour free electricity for farmers during the day, should the Congress come to power.
The announcement came close on the heels of AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announcements during his recent visits to the poll-bound state. Gujarat goes to polls by the year end to elect 182 MLAs. Three hundred units of free electricity per month, Rs 3,000 unemployment allowance to the unemployed youth and Rs 1,000 per month to women above 18 years are some of the commitments given by the AAP.
The BJP has been ruling Gujarat for 27 years and both the AAP and the Congress are trying to dislodge it. For the BJP, it is crucial to hold on to power considering that the Lok Sabha elections are only about two years away.
The Congress said that it would bring in a law to provide minimum support prices in the open market. The Congress’s stronghold has been the rural areas and it cannot afford to lose it to either the BJP or the AAP.
Giving a status of pastoralists to the farmers so that they can buy agricultural land to grow fodder for their cattle and giving employment to the educated youth were among the commitments the Congress gave.
The party said that this is a commitment given as part of the “Dwarka Manifesto”. The brainstorming session, which was attended by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a couple of months ago had discussed various poll-related issues. The announcements made on Friday were part of the discussions on farmers and cattle breeders.
Gujarat Congress chief spokesperson Dr Manish Doshi told THE WEEK that they would come up with 14 such commitments before the elections. He denied that their commitments had anything to do with the commitments given by the AAP. “The AAP is giving commitments to establish its base in Gujarat. We (the Congress) have proved it at the Centre. We have done what we had said. We waived of farmers loans, brought in RTE…,” he said.
