Gajendra Shekhawat accuses Cong of copying BJP's manifesto

Jodhpur: Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat accused the Congress Thursday of copying its manifesto for the Rajasthan Assembly elections scheduled to be held on December 7.

While talking to reporters here, the minister said most of the public welfare issues in the Congress's manifesto were already raised by the BJP. The Congress in its election manifesto released Thursday made promises like loan waiver to farmers, free education to girls and women, unemployment allowance of up to Rs 3,500 to educated youth and pension to elderly farmers, among others. "The Congress has released its manifesto four days after the BJP did so. 

But surprisingly, no mind was applied by the Congress in drafting it, which contained most of the issues mentioned by the BJP in its manifesto," Shekhawat claimed. He said the Congress has misled the people by producing a "tampered version" of the BJP's announcements ahead of the elections. 

Sharing some data pertaining to crop insurance, Shekhawat said that 25.32 lakh farmers in Rajasthan were given a claim worth Rs 1,694 crore in 2016 and more than Rs 4,000 crore in the last two years. "The farmers of the state are happy with this coverage and this procedure would be made more effective in the time to come and the process has already started," Shekhawat claimed.