To outdo BJD on welfarism, how Congress has shaped its Odisha poll manifesto

With a slew of promises mentioned in the manifesto for Odisha, the Congress, looking to revive its base in the state, has moulded its poll message around the welfare narrative. On Friday, the party released its manifesto for the Odisha Assembly polls, choosing to replicate the templates it followed in Karnataka and Telangana, where it won the Assembly polls last year. The promises indicate how the party is planning to counter the BJD’s narrative on welfare initiatives by targeting the constituency of voters who form the bedrock of the ruling party’s electoral success.

Among other things, the Congress has promised jobs to five lakh youth and a monthly unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000. Under the Grihalaxmi Yojana, the party has assured Rs 2,000 each month to women heads of households, a gas cylinder for Rs 500 to each family, and bank-loan waivers for all women self-help groups (SHGs).

The party has also promised a farm loan waiver and a Rs 2,000 monthly pension to farmers and said it would purchase paddy at Rs 3,000 per quintal. The current MSP is Rs 2,183 per quintal.

In the health sector, the Congress has promised free treatment up to Rs 25 lakh for all, including government servants. The party has also announced Rs 200 units of free electricity to every domestic consumer, the doubling of the old-age pension to Rs 2,000 per month, and an immediate 27% reservation for OBCs in educational institutions and government jobs. It has also promised to refund, within six months of coming to power, those who have lost money to chit funds.

Congress Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar said the implementation cost of these schemes would be Rs 48,000 crore.

“Odisha has the capacity to implement the guarantees. (Chief Minister) Naveen Patnaik is