Priyanka Gandhi has promised to deliver on five guarantees, which she announced in a rally in Jabalpur and later in Gwalior Madhya Pradesh at the start of the election campaign which began in early June 2023. The guarantees that she mentioned included a farm loan waiver, free 100 units of electricity consumption and charging half the units of 200 units, 1500 rupees direct money transfer to women’s bank account, bringing back Old Pension Scheme and providing gas cylinder for 500 rupees.
Now, coming back to the present scenario where the EC (Election Commission) has announced the dates for the upcoming state assembly elections, in New Delhi on October 9, 2023. The dates for the 90-seat Chhattisgarh assembly are the 7th and 17th of November 2023, while the 40-seat Mizoram state assembly is on the 7th of November 2023. For the state of Madhya Pradesh, the date is set on 17th November; and for Telangana and Rajasthan, the dates are 30th November and 23rd November respectively.
The ruling incumbent government of the Bhartiya Janata Party is facing the anti-incumbency factor, while the Congress under the leadership of ex-CM Kamal Nath is hoping to ride on the promises and the pro-wave. After the Bharat Jodo Yatra’s success, Rahul Gandhi is going to address rallies on October 10th as conveyed by K.K. Mishra in Madhya Pradesh. On the 12th of October, there will be a rally in Mandla attended by Priyanka Gandhi. After the poll dates were announced by the EC, a survey by ABP C-voter was released and the numbers for the grand old party were between 113 to 125 seats in a 230-seat Madhya Pradesh assembly; as for the BJP, it is predicted that its vote share is 0.1% higher than Congress and it is going to scramble in between 104-116 seats.
After winning states like Karnataka and Himachal from BJP where the Congress won and is now in the process of or has already delivered on the guarantees promised there, Priyanka Gandhi’s Five Guarantees are seen as a game-changer for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh. On the other hand, the economic side of the coin, where the taxes collected are put into popular social schemes, is done by all parties including the BJP. The Prime Minister in a rally pointed it out by calling it “Revaadi”; while conveniently ignoring its own ruled state schemes’ increasing and pulling the deficit of the state.