Congress implementing 5 guarantees in Karnataka, will implement all 6 guarantees in Telangana: Karnataka CM

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 26 (ANI): Ahead of the Telangana assembly polls, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah asserted that the Congress government will implement all six guarantees in Telangana if it is voted to power.
He was addressing the media today at a hotel in Hyderabad.
CM Siddaramiah said, "In newspapers and television, I saw that some say that the Congress government in Karnataka has not implemented the five guarantees. It has been said by the Telangana CM, his son and other leaders from the BJP. It is not true. We came to power in Karnataka in May. We went to cabinet hall and took a decision to implement the five guarantees and the orders were issued on the same day. However, it took some time to implement it."
"Congress never cheated the people. We have been implementing our manifesto. We will continue to implement. The statement that development has come to a standstill is not true. All the development work is going on. The Prime Minister made a statement in Rajasthan that the guarantees cannot be implemented and the state will go bankrupt if they are implemented. It is not true. The economy is sound enough in Karnataka. The Congress will surely come to power in Telangana. When Congress comes to power here, all six guarantees will be implemented. There is no doubt about this. I ask the BJP and BRS to please come to Karnataka. You will be our guest. We will explain and also show evidence if required," added the Karnataka CM.
He further said, "The first guarantee of the Shakti Yojana was implemented on June 11. Recently, we celebrated that more than 100 crore women travelled in government buses for free. Today, 61-62 lakh women every day can travel for free. We are not distinguishing women by caste or religion. The women are very happy. If KCR makes a statement that guarantees are not implemented, we understand it because he is doing it for election purposes. He and his son are telling lies. But I don't know why others are saying this too. This is both a fact and a truth. There is no exaggeration."
"Another guarantee is Anna Bhagya. The entire country is giving five kg of rice and we promised 10 kg of rice. We requested GOI and FCI agreed to give us rice. We were ready to pay the money they asked for. But at the direction of GOI, FCI refused to give us rice. However, we made the decision to transfer the money to beneficiaries instead of rice. We have 4 crore, or 37 lakh, beneficiaries. For each person, it comes to around 170 crore. We are transferring it through DBT starting in the first week of July," he added.
Speaking about the Gruha Jyothi scheme, the Karnataka CM said, "The next guarantee is Gruha Jyothi; it also started in July. We promised free power up to 200 units. The average consumption and addition of 10% are free for each household."
"Another guarantee is Gruha Lakshmi. We are giving 2000 rupees every month to each woman's head of family. 1 crore and 14 lakh women are covered in this. By December, 1 crore and 17 lakh women will be covered. So all four guarantees have been implemented. The fifth guarantee is Yuva Nidhi. We promised 3000 rupees to unemployed graduates and 1500 rupees to unemployed diploma holders. It will only be for two years. We will also provide skill-development training. The fifth guarantee will come into force in January 2024. We are spending 36,000 crores to 38,000 crores this year. We have already allocated the budget for these schemes. The budget allocation next year will range from 56,000 crores to 58,000 crores. We have fulfilled five guarantees in the first phase. 76 promises are fulfilled in this year's budget. The manifesto is for 5 years. All promises cannot be implemented in one go," he added.
He said, "In our previous tenure, we had promised 165 promises and fulfilled 158 promises. However, in the last election, the BJP made 600 promises in their manifesto and only implemented 10% of them. Their manifesto was released by the Prime Minister. The allegations made by the opposition are not facts and are just allegations for election purposes. Earlier, I gave an open invitation to KCR to come to Karnataka and discuss this. But he did not come. Today, I am inviting you again. Please don't make false allegations. Otherwise, I will come here. There is no question of cheating the people."
CM Siddaramiah added, "We have asked the commercial tax department to increase collection. We also made amendments in the excise department. We have mobilised the money from these measures."
Reacting to the BRS's allegation that Congress is collecting money from builders to fund elections, he said, "It is false. We deny it. It is an allegation for election."
Attacking the BRS government, CM Siddaramiah said, "There is a strong anti-incumbency, rampant corruption and family rule. So, BRS will surely lose in Telangana. The Congress party will come to power."
Telangana will undergo polls on November 30 and the counting of votes will take place on December 3.
The state is poised for a three-cornered contest between the ruling BRS, which is bidding to return to the hustings for a third straight term, the Congress, and a resurgent BJP. (ANI)