Dehradun (Uttarakhand): Congress National General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi released the party's poll manifesto in Uttarakhand today calling it a 'Pratigya Patra' (pledge letter) to highlight the party's claim that it was not just making promises but pledges that it would fulfil at any cost.
The manifesto has covered basic issues and needs of citizens including electricity, water, employment, education, and health. Some of the pledges in the manifesto, however, sketch a utopia of sorts as the party promises cooking gas cylinders at Rs 500, four lakh jobs, 40 per cent reservation for women in police, free bus travel for women, yearly assistance of Rs 40,000 for poor families and those affected by Covid-19, delivery of medicines by drones in far-off villages, among other perks.
During her address, Priyanka Gandhi said she has a very old relationship with "Devbhoomi", as Uttarakhand is also known. "My father, me and my brother Rahul and now my son have also studied here (at the Doon School in Dehradun). I am well aware of the climate here. I have always had a connection with the people here, but after coming here today, it is sad to see the kind of government running in Devbhoomi," she said.
The BJP government, she said, had neglected the state and accused the party of "doing nothing" in the last years. "Wherever I go, it is clear that in the last 5 years, the BJP government did not do any work, only the hopes of the people were broken. What was done earlier in the Congress government, the same work stands today," she said.
Priyanka accused the BJP of using government money in party and poll campaigns. She said that the saffron party makes big announcements and starts inaugurating stalled projects "only when elections are near". "BJP government has spent a lot on advertisements to show its work. But if it had really worked, then these questions would not have arisen today. The truth is that the government has money, there are vacancies for employment, but the intention of the government is not right. If these people really wanted to work, they could. The so-called 'double engine' government made petrol and diesel so expensive that their own engine stalled," she said.
Reiterating her slogan 'Ladki hoon lad sakti hoon' (I am a girl, I can fight), Priyanka said she knew the struggles faced by women. "Women bear the burden of society. They do not have many opportunities because they have to take care of the household as well. Women have suffered the most during the Corona period," she said.
The Congress General Secretary claimed that a woman was tortured every five hours in Uttarakhand. "Women live a difficult life in the hilly states. Pregnant women have to suffer the most due to lack of health services. What has this present BJP government done for women? The highest unemployment is among women. Here all the women are unemployed, the honorarium of ASHA (Anganwadi workers) has also not been increased for years," she said.
Priyanka took a dig at PM Narendra Modi and said that as the country faced severe inflation, the Prime Minister "has bought two airplanes for himself for 16000 crores". "The entire arrears of sugarcane farmers could have been paid in the amount spent in buying these airplanes," she said.
Read: Congress slams Modi govt, says BJP garnering votes using soldiers in Uttarakhand
