Gearing up for the Delhi Assembly elections, Congress is likely to unveil its much famed ‘guarantees’ from Monday—which they call a package to fight inflation—promising monthly allowance to women, a health insurance scheme, and unique ration kits containing daily essentials for the poor.
Sources said the announcements of guarantees will be made in phases between Monday and Saturday by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The major guarantee would be a ‘Direct Cash Transfer’ scheme for women that promises a monthly allowance, which sources indicated would be higher than the Rs 2,100 promised by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP.
A health insurance coverage of Rs 20-25 lakh each for all residents and free electricity of 400 units, which is double of what the AAP government provides now, and support for unemployed youth through cash incentives coupled with apprenticeship training programs to enhance their skills and employability are among the promises.
Sources said the “most unique” among the guarantees will be the ration kits for households containing daily essentials at a time when the poor are bearing the brunt of inflation.
“The idea is to provide poor households with all essentials they need. At present, the PDS shops provide only certain things. These kits will have more materials,” a senior leader said.
The leader said the Congress is taking a leaf out of its successful campaign in Karnataka and Telangana where they unveiled the guarantees at least more than a month ahead of Assembly elections.
The party has also learned the hard lessons from Haryana and Maharashtra where the party had announced the guarantees very late and was not able to ensure that the message reached the voter.
Sources said the announcement of the guarantees for Haryana and Maharashtra was done haphazardly and there was no organised narrative building. The strategy to announce the guarantees over days and that too by the top leadership will help maintain momentum, they said.
