Congress leader Sachin Pilot said this Lok Sabha polls will decide the future of the nation…reports Asian Lite News
Congress leader Sachin Pilot has said that the INDIA bloc will get the majority everywhere, and if BJP had confidence about ‘400 seats’, then they would not have poached opposition leaders.
He said this while attending a public gathering in support of party candidate Harish Chandra Meena from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur Lok Sabha seat in Tonk district on Wednesday.
Sachin Pilot said, “The public has made up their mind that the Congress and INDIA alliance will get the majority everywhere. This election is decisive. This Lok Sabha poll will decide the future of the nation. There is no wave, BJP is concerned. If they had confidence about ‘400 paar’, then they would not have poached opposition leaders and included Congress leaders in their party.”
He further claimed that BJP MPs are joining Congress in Haryana and Rajasthan.
Rajasthan will go to the polls in two phases, on April 19 and April 26. Polling for 12 Lok Sabha seats will be held in the first phase on April 19, while the remaining 13 seats will be polled in the second phase on April 26.
The BJP won 24 out of 25 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, while the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party won one. While, in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the BJP won in all 25 parliamentary constituencies.
Kharge’s 25 guarantees
In a key initiative to boost the party’s prospects in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday launched the party’s nationwide door-to-door campaign to distribute the ‘Guarantee Cards’ which list 25 guarantees of the party.
The campaign was launched from the North-East Delhi parliamentary constituency.
Addressing a press conference after launching the campaign, Kharge said the Congress party was committed to providing “paanch nyay” with 25 guarantees, five guarantees for each “nyay”.
The Congress president said that under this campaign, party workers will go door-to-door among all sections of people and distribute cards containing 25 guarantees.
He said these guarantees will be implemented if the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) forms the government at the Centre. “Unlike the BJP and Modi’s guarantees, Congress implements everything it promises,” he said.
He said the Congress-led UPA government introduced welfare schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the Food Security Act, Right to Information Act.
Kharge said the Modi government had “not fulfilled promises he had made” like generating two crore jobs every year, doubling the income of farmers or depositing Rs 15 lakh in every Indian’s bank account after getting back the black money stashed in foreign banks.
Kharge said Congress has given “25 guarantees” under ‘Yuva Nyay’, ‘Nari Nyay’, ‘Shramik Nyay’, ‘Kisan Nyay’ and ‘Bhagidari Nyay’.
Elaborating on the guarantees of the Congress, he said that 30 lakh government vacancies pending in various central government departments will be filled under ‘Yuva Nyay’.
Besides, graduates will be provided an apprenticeship with a guarantee of Rs 1 lakh in the first year.
He said a government of INDIA bloc members will also make stringent laws to prevent paper leaks and promised better working rules for gig workers.
Kharge said a corpus fund of Rs 5,000 crore will be created for youth entrepreneurship.
Under ‘Nari Nyay’, one woman from every poor family will be given assistance of Rs 1 lakh annually. Besides, women will get 50 per cent reservation in government jobs.
The salary of Asha and mid-day meal workers will be increased, the Congress chief said.
Under Savitribai Phule Hostel Scheme, the Government of India will build at least one hostel for working women in all the district headquarters and the number of these hostels will be doubled across the country.
To improve the plight of daily wagers, the minimum daily wage will be fixed at Rs 400. Under the Right to Health for All, the poor will be given a health cover of Rs 25 lakh for free treatment, medicine, tests and surgery.
Under Kisan Nyay, a legal guarantee will be provided for the Minimum Support Price, which will be fixed according to Swaminathan Commission Recommendations.
There will be a direct transfer of money within 30 days in case of crop damage. A new import-export policy will be formulated which will watch the farmers’ interests, he said.
The Congress chief said that as part of Bhagidhari Nyay, the 50 per cent cap on reservations will be removed through constitutional amendment.
“Besides, caste census will be carried out for effectively implementing social justice,” he added.
Congress is fighting Lok Sabha polls in Delhi in alliance with Aam Aadmi Party. The party has also reached agreements in other parts of the country with some parties of the INDIA bloc. (ANI)
Congress expels Sanjay Nirupam for ‘anti-party statements’
Maharashtra leader Sanjay Nirupam was expelled from the Congress for “indiscipline” and “anti-party statements,” Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal said in a statement.
“Taking note of the complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, the Hon’ble Congress President has approved the expulsion of Shri Sanjay Nirupam from the party for six years with immediate effect,” Venugopal said in the statement on Wednesday night.
The party’s decision comes after Nirupam was removed from the list of star campaigners for the Congress party in Lok Sabha general elections 2024 earlier in the day.
Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole has said, “His name (Sanjay Nirupam) was mentioned in the star campaigners, which has been cancelled. The kind of statements he has been making, action will be taken.”
The action was taken for his recent remarks against INDIA block partner, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), over seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha election.
Soon, after the Patole’s announcement, Sanjay Nirupam posted on X and said that he will take the decision to leave the party by himself.
“Congress Party should not waste much energy and stationery for me. Instead, use it to save the party. Anyway, the party is going through a severe financial crisis. The period of one week that I had given has been completed today. Tomorrow I will take the decision myself,” he said.
Sanjay Nirupam was keen to contest from the Mumbai North West seat but after the seat-sharing, the seat went to Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Amot Kirtikar.
Nirpuam, who had represented Mumbai North in 2009 in the Lok Sabha, said that the decision of the Shiv Sena to field candidates in Mumbai was meant to sideline the Congress.
Notably, the state of Maharashtra with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 seats.
The undivided NCP, part of the opposition alliance, contested 19 seats and won four. (ANI)
ALSO READ-Finally, I.N.D.I.A. Bloc Gathers Momentum
[soliloquy id="151345"]