In light of the upcoming Himachal Pradesh assembly elections due to be held in November 2022, a social media post criticizing the AAP’s poll promise to provide a monthly stipend of Rs. 1,000 to each woman from Himachal Pradesh is widely circulated. The message claims that the AAP made a similar promise in Punjab and after the election backtracked accusing Prime Minister Modi of failing to provide funds. Through this article, let us verify the facts alleged in the message.
Claim: AAP backtracks on pledge to provide Rs. 1,000 every month to every woman over 18 in Punjab accusing PM Modi of not providing enough funds.
Fact: AAP has promised to provide a stipend of one thousand rupees to women in Punjab. However, there are no reports that the AAP went back on its promise and blamed PM Modi for not providing funds. Therefore, the claim made in the message is FAKE.
Punjab Poll Promise:
Offering a monthly stipend of one thousand rupees to every woman over the age of eighteen was one of many promises made by AAP ahead of the Punjab elections. Even in his speech after his swearing-in ceremony, talking about his government’s priorities, Bhagwant Mann said that every woman in Punjab would receive a pension of Rs 1,000 every month.
However, over time, neither the state unit nor the central unit of the AAP have said that they cannot deliver on the promise, as Prime Minister Modi is not helping with the necessary funds. to the implementation of the program. There are no reports in this regard.
In fact, talking about his poll promises, the newly elected Chief Minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann through a Facebook post dated April 11, 2022, asked the people of the state for time. ‘Punjabis, give time! Have a little patience. There’s nothing I can’t remember by mouth,” Mann wrote.
Earlier in late March 2022, Bhagwant Mann called Prime Minister Modi in Delhi and requested a special financial package of one lakh crores from the Centre. After Mann’s meeting with the Prime Minister, the Punjab BJP targeted the AAP saying: ‘the party was seeking money for giveaways it announced at the time of state polls.
In all likelihood, political statements like these could be behind the viral post. However, as of now, the AAP has made no official statement indicating that it cannot deliver on its promise to pay a stipend to every woman.
According to latest news, Bhagwant Mann met with AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi to discuss the agenda of providing free electricity to Punjab up to 300 units.
Himachal Survey Promise:
At present, the AAP has made no such promise to provide a monthly stipend to women in light of the upcoming elections in Himachal.
As for the billboard image, the viral image is a digital version of an old billboard featuring Arvind Kejriwal. Reverse image search of the viral photo led us to a few news stories from 2015, which published a similar image but with a different caption (here and here).
When comparing the viral image with the image published in the old article, it is evident that this old image is digitally edited and the promise to provide monthly allowance to the women of Himachal is added. The original image bears the image of Arvind Kejriwal with a caption that reads ‘Dhanyawad Delhi’.
According to news reports, billboards thanking the people of Delhi appeared in the city after the party’s victory in the parliamentary elections. Additionally, the billboards feature a new look of Arvind Kejriwal, in which he can be seen wearing a jacket.
To sum up, AAP’s viral claim accusing PM Modi of not providing funds to implement the stipend program for women is not true.
