Kharge promises Rs 5,000 to poor families every month

Anantapur: AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge promised one guarantee for the people of Andhra Pradesh. It is payment of Rs 5,000 per month to every family of weaker sections, which means a total of Rs 60,000 per year.

“The Congress has a history of keeping its promises whether it be at the Centre or any state. In Karnataka, Congress is implementing its five guarantees and in Telangana, its six guarantees. In AP too, we will fulfil all the guarantees we give. This is the first Congress public meeting in the state. In due course we will come up with more,” he said a while addressing Congress Nyaya Sadhana Sabha here on Monday.

The AICC president who started off his speech in Kannada switched on to English after some time. His speech was translated into Telugu by former PCC chief and ex-minister N Raghuveera Reddy.

The Congress president said that Congress coming back to power is a national necessity. He said that Special Category Status will be granted to AP state as well as Rs 5,000 welfare dole to every family every month.

Kharge observed that the nation is under peril. Democracy and the sacred Constitution of India should be protected from the dictatorial tendencies of Prime minister Narendra Modi. “The PM says that the Congress has been weakened and is in no position to handle the country. If Congress is weak, why is he scared of the party? Why is he destabilising Congress governments and purchasing Congress MLAs in the states?. Why does he abuse Rahul and Sonia Gandhi every day and try to discredit Pandit Nehru?”he said.

AP, he said, had been dearer to Congress since the time of Indira Gandhi. It was Sonia who visited the district in 2004 and saw the stark poverty in the district and brought the NREGS scheme. Calling Y S Sharmila ‘my daughter’, he called upon all Congress leaders and the rank and file to strengthen the hands of Sharmila.

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making talk and shallow promises that he would give SCS to the state and extend Central assistance to state for 10 years, Kharge accused Modi of taking a U-turn and went back on his promise.

He said that he is at a loss to understand why TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Pawan Kalyan are vying with each one another to support Modi and why is TDP chief clamouring for alliance with BJP when he miserably failed to deliver on his promises to the state and betrayed the interests of AP. “Why the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have virtually surrendered in toto to Narendra Modi,” he asked. They should explain to the people of AP why they are prostrating before the BJP top brass.

Kharge called upon the people to caste their two votes to the Congress Party and gain back all that they lost in the 10 years of TDP and YSRCP government's.

He recalled how the district gave two presidents to the country, Dr Sarvepalle Radhakrishnan who served as lecturer in Anantapur Government Arts College and Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy while AP state gave a prime minister in P V Narasinha Rao to the country.

Mallikarjun Kharge arrived in a special helicopter from Benguluru along with Y S Sharmila Reddy at around 5 pm.

Government Junior College grounds, the venue of the Congress meeting, drew large crowd of people and party workers. A new enthusiasm was evident in the thousands of party workers. The venue was filled with fluttering Congress and CPI and CPM flags.