Guarantee scheme row: Congress ropes in HP and Telangana CMs, K'taka Dy CM to counter BJP in Maharashtra Polls

Two Congress CMs and one Deputy CM will help the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to counter the ruling Mahayuti and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on their narrative on the guarantee schemes that has resulted in a major row, party officials said here on Saturday.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Sukhu, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Deputy CM of Karnataka D.K. Shivakumar, along with AICC Media & Publicity Chairman Pawan Khera will hold a media interaction here this afternoon to counter the BJP's narrative on the schemes.

Maharashtra Congress President Nana F. Patole said that these senior leaders would lay bare the BJP's propaganda over the poll commitments of the Congress-ruled states of Himachal Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.

"The BJP has released huge media advertisements and is attempting to mislead the masses by fraudulent claims that the Congress is not implementing its guarantees and assurances made before the elections. However, this is absolutely false," said Patole.

Sukhu, Reddy, Shivakumar and Khera will make some detailed presentations on the guarantees and schemes they have already executed in their respective states, the kind of impact these are having on the people along with supporting data, said a Congress leader in Mumbai.

Simultaneously, Khera on Friday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) on the media blitzkrieg unleashed by the BJP to defame the Congress ahead of the crucial Maharashtra elections, the Mumbai party leader said.

They contended to the ECI that the BJP was making a direct effort to spread false propaganda against the Congress in the state and demanded action in the matter, among other things.

The developments come in the wake of the MVA's '5 ' that were unveiled here at a mega-rally on November 6 in the presence of the MVA bigwigs, formally launching the alliance's campaign for the November 20 elections.

They included Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha , Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray, and leaders of other MVA-INDIA bloc allies.

(With inputs from IANS)