From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Aug 14: The guarantees successfully implemented by the Congress government cannot be stopped by BJP even if it is reborn 100 times, asserted Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Addressing the Padmanabhanagar Guarantee Implementation Committee members and the Congress party’s mass contact centre, he said the Congress government’s guarantees have been widely appreciated by the people, who have
largely benefited.
"BJP and JD(S) leaders are jealous of the Congress party and have started a malicious disinformation campaign against the discontinuation of the guarantees," he said.
Shivakumar, who is also the KPCC president, said former prime minister late Indira Gandhi had launched Old Age and Widow pensions as well as land to the tiller programmes besides nationalising banks to make them accessible to the people. Are any of the schemes stopped, he asked.
He said the Congress party had launched Stree Shakti Societies for the empowerment of women and also the distribution of house sites. "All these programmes and the guarantees are the strength of Congress party," he declared.
Shivakumar accused the BJP of indulging in hate politics and polarisation of the people based on emotive issues like caste, religion, food and clothes while the Congress party is devoting its attention of livelihood and bread and butter issues. The people know which benefits them most, he said.
The deputy chief minister admitted that there might some problems and difficulties for some months. But none of the schemes has been stopped and they will be continued.
When the government launched Grihalakshmi guarantee offering payment of Rs 2,000 a month to the women heads of families, he recalled that the BJP and JD(S) leaders had warned that it will divide families and cause fights between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. "They went to the extent of claiming that women would go astray due to the free travel in all government buses to women. But nothing of that sort has happened and it has given a boost to pilgrimage and empowered women," he said.
The Gruhajyothi guarantee offering free power upto 200 units for all domestic users have helped over 1.5 crore families while the monthly allowance to unemployed graduates and diploma holders has benefitted unemployed youth. “Have the BJP governments headed by B S Yediyurappa, Basavaraj Bommai, D V Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar have offered any schemes comparable to the Congress government’s five guarantees,” he asked.
Taunting BJP leader R Ashoka, the deputy chief minister said he was happy to open the Guarantee Implementation Committee Centre in the assembly constituency represented by him and declared that similar Centres will be established in all the 224 assembly constituencies in the State.
He stoutly refuted the BJP claims that a minister has said the guarantees will be discontinued and asserted that both he and the Chief Minister have repeatedly clarified that the guarantees will stay.
At the same time, he said complaints against well-off persons and taxpayers getting the benefits of guarantees will be looked into. “We will streamline the implementation of guarantees and consider weeding out undeserving persons,” he added.