BJP backtracking on Rs 2,500 monthly promise to Delhi women: AAP leader

AAP Delhi state president Saurabh Bharadwaj on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led Delhi Government, accusing it of backtracking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pre-election promise of providing Rs 2,500 per month to every woman in the Capital.

Calling it a “web of exclusions and betrayal,” Bharadwaj said the so-called “Modi ki Guarantee” has turned out to be a “bundle of lies.”

“PM Modi, along with BJP leaders like JP Nadda and Amit Shah, repeatedly promised that every woman in Delhi would receive Rs 2,500 monthly beginning March 8. Now we’re being told it’s only for one woman per family, above the age of 21, with a ration card,” he said at a press conference.

Bharadwaj questioned the sudden imposition of eligibility conditions that, he claimed, were never disclosed to voters. “Why didn’t you tell them during the campaign that only one woman from a family will benefit? Why ask for votes from every woman if the benefit was always going to be limited?” questioned Bharadwaj.

He alleged that women from Purvanchali communities and those in Delhi’s villages — many of whom lack ration cards — stand automatically excluded. “Eighty per cent of Purvanchali women in Delhi won’t qualify. In our villages, those with ancestral homes are denied ration cards altogether. It’s a deliberate exclusion,” he said.

The AAP leader also mocked the reported clause linking eligibility to child vaccination. “If vaccination status determines financial aid, why not use that logic for government jobs too? This is absurd and deeply insensitive,” the AAP leader said.

Bharadwaj also objected to reports that Rs 2,500 would be partially withheld and “saved” for the beneficiary. “You don’t withhold salaries of ministers and IAS officers, then why withhold money meant for the poor? Do you think they’re incapable of managing it?” he questioned.