'Have we won elections', says Cong MP on Rs 1 lakh women allowance promise

New Delhi : Imran Masood, the Congress MP from Saharanpur on Tuesday said that the party would have fulfilled all its promises had it won the 2024 elections but since it’s not in power, it's evident that its poll pledges will stay in ‘cold storage’.

He said this while speaking to newsmen over reports of several women gathering outside the party’s office in Lucknow and other cities for Rs 1 lakh allowance, as promised during polls.

“Have we won the elections?,” was Imran Masood’s curt reply when questioned on viral videos of women assembling at its offices with demands of ‘guarantee card’ as promised by Rahul Gandhi and other top Congress leaders.

He however maintained that all pledges of the Congress 2024 poll document will be implemented in those states, where the party is in power.

Imran Masood, a controversial figure won the Lok Sabha polls on Congress ticket from Saharanpur constituency. He had previously contested twice on a Congress ticket but lost.

Notably, Congress in its 2024 manifesto promised Rs 1 lakh yearly cash assistance (Rs 8,500 monthly) under the Mahalakshmi scheme and Rs 1 lakh yearly stipend to youth and unemployed.

Soon after the election results on June 4, many women from poor families thronged the Congress offices demanding ‘guarantee cards’, the videos of which also brought embarrassment for the party.

Women who assembled at party offices said that they were promised Rs 8,500 cash assistance every month and they came here to fill out the guarantee cards for availing this money.

The controversy over guarantee cards also gave the ruling BJP a handle to target the grand old party over its ‘khatakhat’ promise. The party caught in a bind over the row, reportedly sent an informal directive to regional offices to not allow gathering of women.

The Khatakhat scheme, aggressively championed by the Congress entailed a transfer of Rs 8,500 directly into the bank accounts of women voters. Some political pundits have also raised questions over the legality of such schemes while equating it to the ‘bribing the voters’ tactic.