Haryana assembly elections: Congress manifesto promises free power, MSP guarantee, old pension scheme, caste census

Congress on September 28 released its manifesto for the upcoming Haryana assembly elections announcing free electricity, free medical treatment, financial assistance for women, guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for farmers, and a caste census in the state. 

The document was launched in the presence of Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee President Udai Bhan, among others. 

Major highlights from the document: 

• Party to provide 300 units of free electricity and free medical treatment up to Rs 25 lakh to every family in Haryana. 
   
• Congress has also promised to provide Rs 2,000 per month to women, aged 18-60 in the state on the lines of Madhya Pradesh’s ‘Ladli Behen Yojana’ and Maharashtra’s ‘Ladki Behen Yojana’. It also promises to provide Rs 500 for gas cylinders. 
   
• The manifesto promises a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) and immediate compensation for crops. The party said that it would form a farmer commission and give subsidies on diesel to farmers. 
   
• Congress promised to provide a plot of 200 yards of land and a house with two rooms to the poor section of the society in the state. 
   
• The party also promises to conduct a caste-based survey in the state. Additionally, it will increase the limit of the creamy layer to Rs 10 lakh. 
   
• Congress has promised to give 2 lakh permanent jobs to youths and promised to make the state free from drug menace. 
   
• Countering the Union government’s decision on pension, Congress has promised to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). It has also promised to give Rs 6,000 to senior citizens, handicapped and widows under Budhapa Pension, Divyang Pension and Vidhwa Pension, respectively. 

At the launch event, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the manifesto was created after a lot of hard work. He said that a lot of things in the manifesto have been taken from Rajasthan and several other states. 

Hooda said, “This manifesto has been made after a lot of hard work and I congratulate the chairperson of the manifesto Geeta Ji and all the members. We learnt a lot of things from Rajasthan when Ashok Gehlot was the Chief Minister. we have researched from all the states.” 

Elections for the 90-member Haryana Assembly will be held on October 5 and the results will be declared on October 8. In the previous election in 2019, the BJP won 40 seats, while Congress secured 30.