Congress MLC Lets Off Steam Says BJP Workers Should not Avail Freebie Schemes

Mangaluru: Amidst the post state assembly elections scuffle, the BJP finds itself facing criticism from Harish Kumar, the District Congress Committee President and MLC, who believes that the party has yet to learn from their defeat.

Speaking at a media interaction held at the Congress office in Mangaluru on June 29, Kumar expressed the view that the Congress should not be required to prove its resilience to BJP leaders who have questioned their determination.

Furthermore, he suggested that those BJP leaders who criticize the Congress' guarantee schemes as "freebies" should urge their own party members to refrain from availing themselves of such initiatives in the state.

Kumar drew attention to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's previous statement, wherein he expressed concerns that the Congress' free guarantee formula might lead the country towards bankruptcy. In response, Kumar posed a query regarding the Madhya Pradesh government's "Ladli Bahan Yojana," which aims to transfer Rs. 1,000 into the bank accounts of 12 million women. He questioned whether this scheme might also have a detrimental impact on the country's economic well-being.

Kumar expressed satisfaction with the Congress' commitment to fulfilling all five guarantees promised to the people. He highlighted the positive response from the public regarding the implementation of these guarantee schemes under the leadership of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.

Turning to the challenges faced by the Congress government, Kumar pointed out that due to political manoeuvring by the BJP-led central government, they have encountered difficulties in fulfilling one of their guarantees, the Anna Bhagya scheme.

“Despite having sufficient rice stocks in the Food Corporation of India, the central government's intervention has resulted in the denial of this allocation to the state. As a temporary solution, the Chief Minister has opted to transfer Rs 34 per kilogram to beneficiaries through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme, ensuring that no one goes to bed hungry,” Kumar said.

Kumar also said that the Congress is commitment to combating hunger and credited the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, led by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, for enacting the National Food Security Act. He said that the increase in rice distribution from five to seven kilograms was initiated during Siddaramaiah's tenure.