Congress’ sops to woo lost voters
Congress on Monday released its manifesto for the April 23 municipal elections, promising a cut in house tax rates, an urban poverty alleviation department, unemployment allowance and free health and accident insurance to all.
The civic polls are crucial to the survival of the grand old party in Delhi after its complete rout in the 2015 assembly elections at the hands of the Aam Aadmi Party. The party is hoping that its traditional voters, mostly slum and illegal colony dwellers, who it had lost to AAP will come back to its fold.
To connect with its lost voters, the Congress promises dedicated zones and licenses to street vendors. Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said at least five lakh street vendors will be identified, registered and given licence. All temporary sanitation workers will be regularised within two years, the manifesto says.
Presenting the first of the three part series of Congress All city slums to be redeveloped through in-situ rehabilitation into housing complex
Houses for slum dwellers, solar lights at slum clusters under 'Surya Jyoti Yojna'
Reduced house tax and no new taxes
Free health and accident insurance cover for all, unemployment allowance. Licence to five lakh street vendors
Social security card to avail insurance, education, and health facilities
Will shut the landfill sites by treating it and flattening the area
Waste from landfill sites will be used in construction of highways
AAP yet to come out with manifesto
manifesto, Maken said, “An urban poverty alleviation department will be set up to look into the problems of slums and unauthorised colonies.”
Maken said slums would be developed through in-situ rehareleased tax No new taxes Abolish house Empowered group to check high dropout rate in municipal schools
Tie-up with private schools to provide better education
bilitation into housing complexes. The party says that it will reduce house tax and levy no additional taxes. AAP has already promised to abolish house tax if it wins the municipal polls. The BJP manifesto on Sunday promises no additional taxes.
The Congress will come out with separate manifesto for urban infrastructure and youth in the next two days. The party manifesto was prepared by experts, including former UPA government ministers Salman Khursheed, Shashi Tharoor, and Jairam Ramesh.
A fixed deposit of ₹1,000 for all girl students in the corporation schools for checking the high dropout rate. They will be given this amount after clearing Class 5. The number of students in municipal schools has gone down by 10%-20% since 2012.
Maken said all three corporations will be made self-reliant in two years through revenue generation from different areas and annual collections of ₹500 crore from licence fees from vendors, ₹1,600 crore from toll tax and utilisation of unused land and outdoor advertising.
“I don’t think the vendors will have a problem if they have to pay less amount and get a designated zone in return,” he said.
The Aam Aadmi Party challenged the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday to name one “outstanding” work done by the municipal corporations ruled by it over the past decade, a day after the saffron party came out with its election manifesto for the April 23 civic polls.
AAP (Delhi) convener, Dilip Pandey, wrote an open letter to BJP president Amit Shah and said that the BJP-ruled municipal corporations in the city have become a den of corruption.
In his letter, which has also been marked to the Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, the AAP leader accused the BJP of making false promises in its manifesto ahead of civic polls despite “having failed” to fulfil the promises made ahead of the previous municipal elections.
“I challenge you and your party to name a single work done by the BJP-ruled municipal corporations, which the public had praised. All the three municipal corporations have failed to utilise even 40 per cent of the money allocated for sanitation and hygiene works,” Pandey said. HTC