BJP copies Cong guarantees to rain ‘freebies’ in MP

It is a promise of Rs 1,000 per month versus Rs 1,500 per month and an LPG cylinder for Rs 500 – the ruling BJP and the Congress are going all out to woo women voters in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.

Last month, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath promised the cash dole as the party had tasted success with this formula in Karnataka. Soon, chief minister Shivraj Chouhan also chose to fast-track the ‘freebies’ route and promised to transfer Rs 1,000 per month to the bank accounts of nearly 1.25 crore poor women starting Saturday. Along with that, he will also transfer Rs 2,000 into the bank accounts of 80 lakh farmers in the state as a biannual instalment for CM Kisan Kalyan Yojana started last year. This is in addition to three instalments of Rs 2,000 each sent to farmers every year by the Centre under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.

In January, Chouhan had promised the ‘Ladli Behna Yojana’ under which the state government now stands to spend a whopping Rs 12,500 crore per year. Registrations were subsequently carried out as the government said only 23 percent women in the state were employed, against 58 percent men. The government said this affected the self-sufficiency of women and, hence, an aid of Rs 1,000 per month will be given to them after the registration process was complete.

In the Karnataka elections, the Congress had promised Rs 2,000 per month to women – a factor that played a big role in the party’s win while the BJP did not opt for a cash dole to women. Soon after those polls, Nath had announced that if his party came to power in the upcoming elections, it will give Rs 1,500 per month to women along with an LPG cylinder at the subsidised price of Rs 500, which otherwise costs upwards of Rs 1,000 at present.

Women voters make up close to 48 percent of MP’s electorate. “All this will translate to Rs 2,000 a month to every woman in the state if Congress government is formed. We have also promised 100 units of free electricity and half the rate up to 200 units. Effectively, Congress promises are more than double the BJP’s dole of Rs 1,000 per month for women… the BJP is under pressure due to this,” a senior state Congress leader told News18.