NRC, free cylinders, free travel for women: BJP, Cong step up 10 days ahead of Karnataka polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress have  published their manifesto and promises respectively ahead of the crucial Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023. The high stakes Karnataka legislative assembly elections are slated to take place on 10 May. The results for the elections will be declared on 13 May. 

As BJP and Congress lock horns in the first of the decider polls ahead of the grand 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, the parties have kept no stone unturned to bag the seat of power to govern the state that houses the silicon valley of India, and is the potential epicenter for ‘Startup India’. 

The Congress is slated to publish their manifesto for the Karnataka elections on Tuesday, 2 May 2023. 

BJP Manifesto

The JP Nadda-led party on Monday published their election manifesto for the karnataka elections. In that the BJP's promises include

-Implementation the Uniform Civil Code (UCC)

-Implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Karnataka, thereby ‘ensure speedy deportation of all illegal immigrants in the state’

-Creation of special wing in the state called ‘Karnataka State Wing against Religious Fundamentalism and Terror (K-SWIFT)

-Three free cooking gas cylinders to all BPL families- one each during the months of 'Yugadi', 'Ganesh Chaturthi' and ‘Deepavali’

-Atal Aahara Kendra in every ward of every municipal corporation in the State to provide affordable, quality and healthy food across the State

-Poshane' scheme through which every BPL household will be provided with half litre 'Nandini' milk every day and five kg 'Shri Anna - siri dhanya' through monthly ration kits

-‘Sarvarigu Suru Yojane,’ under which the Revenue Department will identify and distribute 10 lakh housing sites across the state to the homeless beneficiaries

-‘Onake Obavva Samajika Nyaya Nidhi’ through which it will provide a matching deposit up to ₹10,000 on five-year fixed deposits made under the scheme for women of SC/ST households

-‘Karnataka Residents’ Welfare Consultative Committee’ will be set up to reform the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act-1972 and modernise the grievance redressal mechanism

-Visvesvaraya Vidya Yojane, the party promised to partner with eminent individuals and institutions for holistic upgradation of government schools to ‘top class standard’

Congress Poll Promises

During elections campaigns for the Karnataka elections, the Indian National Congress has announced ‘guarantees’ for the people of Karnataka. These include

-Rahul Gandhi promised to increase the milk subsidy from the present ₹5 to ₹7 per litr

-200 units of free power to all households

-10 kg of rice free to every member of BPL household (Anna Bhagya)

- ₹2,000 monthly assistance to woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi)

- ₹3,000 every month for graduate youth and ₹1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years under the Yuva Nidhi scheme

-Free travel for women in public transport buses in Karnataka.