In the meantime, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government also made a similar poll promise in the state a few months ago, when the then poll in-charge of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party for Himachal Pradesh, Satyendar Jain, announced in Dharamshala in April that 300 units of free electricity would be provided to household consumers if the party is voted to power in the state, the report said.
Additionally, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and the Congress's senior election observer for Himachal Pradesh, Bhupesh Baghel, said the old pension scheme will be restored, as was done in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh within 10 days of the Congress coming to power in those states. While responding to a query on availability of funds, Baghel, who was accompanied by Himachal Pradesh Congress president Pratibha Singh, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Mukesh Agnihotri and state Congress campaign committee chairman Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, said suitable provisions will be made in the budget to honour the promises if the party returns to power in the state, as per the report. These promises will also be included in the Congress's poll manifesto, which will be released soon, the minister said.
It is worth noting that Himachal Pradesh is likely to go to polls in December. Ahead of polls, the AAP government had also promised to give ₹1,000 to women every month and 300 units of free electricity in the run-up to the Punjab Assembly polls held earlier in the year. The Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in Punjab has partially implemented the promise of providing 300 units of free electricity but nothing has so far been done as regards the other promise of giving ₹1,000 per month to women, the report said.
(With inputs from PTI)
