Congress to replicate the work done by its government in Karnataka across India: Rahul Gandhi
Mysuru (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the party has honoured the key pre-poll promises made to the people in Karnataka and that the "work" carried out by the Siddaramaiah-led government would be replicated across the country.
Seeking to fulfill another key pre-poll promise, the Congress government in Karnataka on Wednesday launched the 'Gruha Lakshmi' scheme offering a monthly assistance of Rs 2,000 to about 1.1 crore women who are heads of their households.
AICC President M Mallikarjun Kharge, who launched the scheme, was present along with party MP Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar at the public function held on Maharaja College grounds and attended by tens of thousands of people.
"We have kept our word on our promises" Gandhi said. "We never make false promises" The former AICC President added, "The work we have done in Karnataka will be replicated across India." The 'Gruha Lakshmi' scheme, rolled out amid fanfare, is one of the five pre-poll 'guarantees' of the Congress, which ousted the BJP from power in the May Assembly elections.
"The five guarantees of the Congress are not just schemes; they are a governance model," Gandhi said.
Taking a dig at the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, he said there is a "fashion" these days that the "government in Delhi" only works for billionaires.
"Our thinking is that the Government should work for the welfare of poor people," he said.
The chief minister had said earlier that the government has already implemented three of the five 'guarantees' (pre-poll promises) -- 'Shakti', 'Gruha Jyothi' and 'Annabhagya' -- and noted that 'Gruha Lakshmi' is the fourth one.
The government has earmarked Rs 17,500 crore for the 'Gruha Lakshmi' programme in the current financial year, he had added..
The fifth guarantee ‘Yuva Nidhi’ (Youth Fund) promises to give Rs 3,000 and Rs 1,500 a month to unemployed graduates and diploma holders, respectively, who fail to get a job even after six months of clearing their exams in the 2022-23 academic year.
The scheme will be implemented in December or January, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in his address at the function.
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We will move court again to resist voter deletions: Mamata
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the BJP and the Election Commission over voter deletions during the SIR exercise and said her party will move a court again to resist the removal of electors from the rolls.
Her comments came after nearly 91 lakh voters' names were deleted from the electoral rolls following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision in the state.
“You will not be able to defeat the TMC by deleting names. We will move a court again to resist the exclusion of names," Banerjee said while attacking her principal challenger BJP over the roll revision exercise.
Banerjee had in February argued in the Supreme Court as she sought an intervention in the SIR process.
The EC figures, which pushed the total deletion to over 90.83 lakh names from the original voter base of 7.66 crore in October 2025, showed that the proportion of removal of electors now remains at over 11.85 per cent.
Criticising the poll panel over the SIR process, she also said, "We will fight legally to get the names included on the list as per the Constitution. If people cannot cast their votes, what is the need to frame the tribunal? And then you are saying that the list has been frozen. What is this? We will challenge it and try to understand it."
Addressing a poll rally at Arambagh in Hooghly district, the TMC supremo accused the saffron party of trying to manipulate the electoral rolls and offering money to woo voters.
Banerjee also charged the Election Commission with intimidating people over the phone.
“It (EC) is working at the behest of the BJP. It is calling people over the telephone to threaten and intimidate them,” she claimed.
Later, while speaking at a rally in Balagarh in the same district, Banerjee warned that voting for the BJP would effectively mean "giving up fish, meat, and speaking in Bengali".
“People are not allowed to eat eggs, fish, or meat in the BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. The same will happen here if the BJP comes to power," Banerjee claimed.
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