Maharashtra assembly elections 2024: War over pre-poll guarantees intensifies

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy. Pic/X (right) Shobha Karandlaje. Pic/Instagram

The war between Mahayuti and MVA over ‘unfulfilled' pre-poll guarantees has intensified with senior BJP leaders from Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka claiming that they had evidence to prove how the people of three states were "cheated" by the Congress governments. BJP had invited Union Minister G Kishan Reddy (Telangana), Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje (Karnataka), and former Union Minister Anurag Thakur (HP) to share to counter the Congress CMs and DyCMs who had said that the BJP's allegations were baseless.

Shobha Karandlaje said the Congress' five guarantees had led the state of Telangana to bankruptcy. "Earlier the Karnataka government had a debt of R46,000 crore. During the tenure of the Congress government, it has reached Rs 82,000 crore," she said, alleging that the promises like free bus travel, free rice, and free electricity, Grihalakshmi schemes had turned out to be just empty declarations.

Anurag Thakur, former union minister

G Kishan Reddy dismissed Telangana Chief Revanth Reddy's claims that he made during his Maharashtra campaign. "It has been 340 days since his government formed there. The Congress had given six guarantees before the elections but hasn't kept any. Congress had promised to waive off farmers' loans of up to two lakhs. However, not even 40 per cent of the farmers' loans have been waived off yet. The promise to give Rs 15,000 per acre to the farmers has not been kept, and not even a single rupee was received through Mahalakshmi Yojana for women," he said.

Thakur said the Congress had falsely campaigned in the Lok Sabha elections by deceiving people with false promises. ". It promised to buy milk at a price of Rs 100/litre, but in vain. 23 lakh women were promised Rs 1,500 each, but not even 23 thousand women have received it yet," said the MP, adding that free electricity up to 300 units was not provided, instead power tariff was hiked.

Last week, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, his HP counterpart Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, and Karnataka DyCM DK Shivkumar claimed to have dismissed the BJP campaign that the Congress would not fulfil promises made in Maharashtra because it had failed in the three states it had won by offering guarantees to the voters. The Congress leaders had invited BJP leaders to visit their state to know how they were doing in terms of providing guarantees.