Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday expressed confidence of his Congress party retaining power in 2028 Assembly polls in Karnataka and assured to continue the pro-women programmes such as Rs 2,000 cash benefit scheme for female head of a family, free travel for women in State owned buses among others launched by his Government after coming to power in 2023 elections.
Speaking at the induction of former MLA Sowmya Reddy as the newly appointed State president of Women’s Congress at a function in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah called upon the voters to bestow power to his Congress party and in return the Congress party will empower women with financial strength.
Taking a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Chief Minister termed the BJP leaders as opposed to the Constitution emulating their ‘guru’ Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who was against the Constitution. It is the Constitution which has given power to women politically, socially and financially and he asked women party leaders to make women and girls realize history.
He asked women of the State to give BJP leaders a fitting reply for their opposition to 5-guarantee schemes of the Congress government in Karnataka. “Every month as many as 21 lakh families benefit from the State Government’s cash benefit scheme of Rs 2,000,” he said and alleged BJP leaders tried their best to stall the Rs 2,000 cash benefit scheme through false claims that the cash benefit would result in conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. But, the Rs 2,000 cash benefit scheme proved to come in handy for families.
Pointing to the several instances of women reaping benefits through Rs 2,000 cash benefit scheme, Siddaramaiah said there are instances where mother-in-law saved the money to help her daughter-in-law to open a bangle store and in another instance of cash saved came in handy to purchase a sewing machine among several other cases.
All India Congress Women’s Committee Alka Lamba, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and other party leaders were present.
