NEW DELHI: BJP on Friday announced a Rs 2,500 monthly allowance for eligible women under Mahila Samridhi Yojana while unveiling the first of its three-part manifesto ahead of Feb 5 Delhi polls.
It also promised Rs 21,000 and six nutritional kits for expecting mothers along with Rs 5,000 for the first child and Rs 6,000 for the second; Rs 500 subsidy on LPG cylinders, Rs 2,500 per month as pension for senior citizens, and implementation of Ayushman Bharat Yojana in the city.
BJP president J P Nadda said all existing public welfare schemes will continue if the party is voted to office. AAP govt currently offers several such schemes, including free electricity up to 200 units a month, 20,000 litres of water and free travel passes for women on DTC and cluster buses. In its poll manifesto, AAP has pledged Rs 2,100 a month for women.
BJP has successfully implemented direct cash transfer scheme in several other states: Nadda
BJP president J P Nadda said that in the first cabinet meeting after forming the govt, the promises in the manifesto would be executed.
He said, “Under the Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojna, we have given around 4.73 crore women Rs 5,000 for the delivery of the first child and Rs 6,000 for the second child.”
While talking about the direct cash transfer scheme, Nadda said that the BJP was successful in delivering the scheme in several other states. “In Madhya Pradesh, 13 million women are being given Rs 1,250 each as part of a women’s welfare scheme. Similarly, Maharashtra provides Rs 1,250 monthly to 24 million individuals, Chhattisgarh gives Rs 1,000 per month to 7 million sisters, and Haryana provides Rs 2,500 per month,” he said.
He also took a dig at AAP and said AAP, during its 2021 Punjab campaign, promised Rs 1,000 monthly to women but failed to deliver. In the 2024 Delhi Lok Sabha elections, similar promises were made, but the schemes were never implemented, he said.
Stating that the party will ensure the govt’s flagship Ayushman Bharat scheme in Delhi, Nadda said AAP prevented 5.1 million people from benefitting from this scheme in Delhi. The BJP assures that if it forms the govt in Delhi, it will approve the scheme in the first cabinet meeting and add an additional Rs 500,000 health cover for residents, providing a total coverage of Rs 1 million.
The implementation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme has been a major flashpoint between AAP and BJP, with the latter stating that it has better schemes being run by the state govt. Earlier, AAP announced the Sanjeevani scheme for people aged above 60, including private hospitals. Nadda said that BJP also promises an additional Rs 500,000 health cover for senior citizens over 70. “If this scheme was implemented in 2017-18, Delhi residents would have benefitted, but it has remained inactive under AAP. The BJP aims to approve it after the Feb 8 decision,” he said.
MP and manifesto committee chairperson Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said the guarantees that the BJP has given in the first part of the manifesto will change the lives of Delhi. “The manifesto announcements show how much PM Narendra Modi cares for every section of society. The BJP will take the manifesto to every household and each voter, and all of them will vote for BJP so that the BJP makes the promises land on the ground,” he said.
“The promises Arvind Kejriwal made in Delhi were hollow promises because, though Kejriwal made rides for women free in buses, he did nothing to improve the fleet of buses in Delhi,” he said. Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said BJP will resume pensions for senior citizens withheld by the Kejriwal govt. He said that the party has also announced the Atal Canteen Scheme, aimed at providing affordable meals for labourers and residents of slum areas, offering full meals at Rs 5. Union Minister Harsh Malhotra said that the declarations made by BJP are firm commitments and that the party is determined to achieve them.