Bengaluru: In a big push to woo women ahead of the assembly poll in May this year, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday promised Rs2,000 a month to every woman head of households if the party is voted to power in Karnataka.
At an event called ‘Na Nayaki’ (I am a woman leader) in Bengaluru, she said “Rs24,000 would be directly credited to your bank accounts every year under the ‘Gruha Lakshmi Yojana’, an ‘unconditional universal basic income’.”
Mrs Vadra’s promise comes days after the Congress announced 200 units a month for free to each household in the State.
The Congress leader said ‘Gruha Lakshmi Yojana’ is an attempt of the Congress to share the “burden of the exorbitant” LPG prices and the “costly daily expenses” that a woman has to bear.
More than 1.5 crore women would benefit from the scheme, the party said.
She said a separate manifesto for women would be released in the State and alleged rampant corruption in the BJP-ruled State.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai ridiculed Mrs vadra’s event titled ‘Na Nayaki’, saying, “Today people have to say Na Nayaki by keeping Priyanka Gandhi’s photo. Such a situation has risen where Priyanka Gandhi has to announce herself as a woman leader.”
On the Congress proposing to come out with a women-specific budget if it is voted to power in the coming polls, Mr Bommai said the party will never get a chance for it.
“The Congress leaders know they will not come to power, so they are giving all kinds of assurances,” he said.
