“We have distributed nearly two crore guarantee cards (co-signed by DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah) to people across Karnataka over the last two months. This will be the biggest factor in our win,” a senior state Congress leader told News18. Travelling through Karnataka’s villages, one realises that the ‘guarantee cards’ have indeed reached many on the ground. The four guarantees include Rs 2,000 per month for every woman, Rs 3,000 for every graduate, 200 units of free electricity, and 10 kg of free rice for every family in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Paty has said these ‘guarantees’ will never be fulfilled.
On Monday, the BJP released its manifesto, promising certain poll sops as well — like three free cylinders every year and half-a-litre of ‘Nandini’ milk daily for every poor family. The party hopes this will resonate in the rural areas of the state and help it turn the fence-sitter voters in its favour as Prime Minister Narendra Modi aggressively hard-sells these promises in his multiple election rallies later this week. BJP president JP Nadda, however, did not refer to them as ‘freebies’ and said these were in fact meant to empower the needy. The BJP claims the Congress has not fulfilled its previous poll promises.
But Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told News18 that the BJP’s move in Karnataka “was totally under the pressure of the Congress campaign” which he says has hit home. “Even PM Narendra Modi is talking about our guarantee cards in his speeches — we have made him play on our pitch. This shows it (guarantee cards) had an impact on the ground,” Khera said. The BJP promises 5 kg of rice and 5 kg of millet per month versus the Congress’s 10 kg of rice. The Congress promises Rs 2,000 to women per month and the BJP pledges a matching contribution up to Rs 10,000 on a five-year-long fixed deposit by women.
Speaking on News18’s PlainSpeak show, BJP Karnataka spokesperson Dr Samir Kagalkar said the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) imposition in Karnataka is also a poll promise in the party’s manifesto and UCC is ideologically in tune with the BJP’s thinking. The saffron party had promised UCC in various other state elections too. “The BJP had forcefully brought the issue of development to the forefront of the elections,” Kagalkar said.
Dhruv Jatti, Congress spokesperson in Karnataka, said the BJP poll campaign is “drowning” and the ruling party has not fulfilled even 10 per cent of the 600 promises it made in 2018. “From day one, we have been campaigning on anti-corruption, our guarantees, and on local issues. The BJP has tried to bring a lollipop at the end with its manifesto as it is on the back foot,” Jatti said. He said the Congress has been on the front foot ever since the BJP removed BS Yediyurappa as chief minister.
Whose promises will the voter buy? We will know on May 13.
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