JAIPUR: Amidst the war of words between Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over ‘unfulfilled promises’ and ‘guarantees’, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said that the Congress dispensation had set an example before the nation in fulfilling its promises and also created benchmarks in social and economic justice.
"The Congress Government in Rajasthan set an example before the whole country, which benefited the public. Our Government in Rajasthan made many such unique schemes in the field of social security and healthcare which you could study and implement across the country. OPS is one such scheme which boosted social security of the employees in the state, he said.
"After we formed government in Rajasthan, we discussed party manifesto in first cabinet meet and it was made into policy document of the government. Based on this manifesto, several welfare schemes were made and were implemented in time-bound manner. Thus, the Congress Government in Rajasthan set an example before the whole country, which benefited the public, ” he added.
He further described OPS as one of popular schemes of Congress regime which boosted social security of the employees.
“Under the Ayushman Yojana, only elderly people above 70 years are given free insurance of Rs 5 lakh, whereas in Rajasthan, cashless insurance of Rs 25 lakh was implemented by the Congress government for the entire public, ” he further stated.
Gehlot further claimed that Modi government betrayed the people of country as he failed to keep up the promises made in 2014 and 2019.
Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot’s statement comes in the backdrop of verbal clash between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge over slew of welfare schemes.
PM Modi called Congress’s promises unrealistic while Kharge responded by saying that his ‘guarantee’ was a ‘cruel joke.’
Their verbal exchange began after Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar recently hinted at revisiting the 'Shakti' scheme, which offers free bus rides to all women in the state.