Anurag Aggarwal, Sikar (Rajasthan). Various promises are being made by political parties and various guarantees are being given to woo the voters in the November 25 Rajasthan Assembly elections. The Congress has given seven guarantees to the voters of the state to return to power in Rajasthan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke these guarantees and gave only one guarantee and that is the guarantee of Rajasthan’s development.
The guarantees of both BJP and Congress parties are different from the promises made in these election manifestos. These guarantees are being discussed in the battle of Rajasthan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have held rapid rallies and road shows at many places including Jaipur and Bikaner. Everywhere there is only one guarantee..and that is the guarantee of Rajasthan’s development.
17.63 lakh destitute families of Rajasthan have got a roof to hide their heads with the help of central government money. BJP’s focus is on women’s safety. Congress’s promise of 10 lakh government jobs in five years, BJP’s guarantee of giving 2.5 lakh government jobs is being accepted only lightly.
Voters do not trust promises
People in Sikar, Laxmangarh, Dataramgarh and Neemka Thana are comparing the Congress’ five-year tenure so far with the previous BJP government’s tenure and Prime Minister Modi’s guarantee of development. Guarantees are being given to the voters by the political parties in the battle of Rajasthan because the voters’ confidence in the political parties in the last four assembly elections has been shaken.
Earlier political parties used to make long-winded promises to the voters through election manifestos, which have been made this time too, but voters do not trust the promises more. Therefore, Congress and BJP have chosen the path of guarantees to influence the voters before issuing their respective election manifestos.
Many guarantees of Congress are part of schemes of BJP governments
Only the development of Rajasthan is being guaranteed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on behalf of BJP. Rajasthan BJP leaders are trying to interpret and expand Modi’s guarantee in their own way. BJP has given a guarantee of two lakh rupees bond on birth for girls. Financial assistance is guaranteed at different stages for the education of girls. The BJP leaders are also guaranteeing farmers a bonus on the purchase of wheat.
Among the seven guarantees of the Congress, the first is the Griha Lakshmi guarantee, in which an honorarium of Rs 10,000 will be given to the head of the family every year. It is not clear which family will be the focal point of the guarantee. Cow dung will be purchased at the rate of two rupees per kg from cattle farmers. Free Laptop Guarantee and Chiranjeevi Disaster Relief Insurance Guarantee are being said to be part of copying of BJP-ruled states.
‘Modi সাত্তা’ is the BJP slogan of Rajasthan that is making an impact
The guarantee of free education in English medium colleges and schools is not a new thing. BJP has broken the Congress guarantee of Rs 500 gas cylinder by announcing to give Rs 450 cylinder. The Congress has tried to win the trust of employees by guaranteeing legislation on the old pension scheme (OPS), but the BJP has tried to explain to employees how the new pension scheme is beneficial to them. BJP has given the slogan ‘Modi Sathe’ Rajasthan.
BJP is also prominently raising the issues of corruption and paper leaks in Rajasthan. There is resentment towards the current Congress MLAs in the general public because of the open corruption by the MLAs and the unbridled bureaucracy in Gahlot’s rule. Yet the Congress has given tickets to those MLAs, which the BJP seems to be completely cashing in on.
