MVA unveils poll guarantees, promises Rs 3,000 per month to women

Rahul Gandhi

Seeking to outdo the ruling coalition in Maharashtra, the Opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance on Wednesday promised women in the state Rs 3,000 per month and free travel in state transport buses.

Under the Krishi Sammruddhi Yojana, farmers will get loan waiver up to Rs 3 lakh and Rs 50,000 as an incentive for regular repayment of crop loans, the Shiv Sena (UBT)-NCP(SP)-Congress alliance announced ahead of the November 20 state assembly elections.

Allowance of Rs 4,000 per month for unemployed youth, health insurance up to Rs 25 lakh and free medicines were the other guarantees announced at a gathering addressed by top MVA leaders at the BKC ground here.

Notably, the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government in Maharashtra currently pays Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women under its flagship `Ladki Bahin' scheme and has promised to increase the amount to Rs 2,100 if it retained power.

The MVA also promised to conduct a caste census in the state if elected to power, and remove the 50 percent cap on reservations if elected to power at the Centre.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on this occasion that the present politics in the country is a fight between the ideologies of the RSS/BJP and Opposition's INDIA grouping.

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said never before Maharashtra had seen such a decline in all spheres of life.

Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray said the MVA will ensure that the prices of five essential commodities -- edible oil, sugar, rice, wheat, daal -- remain stable.