Bharat Jodo clubs to be rolled out in a month with Rs 10 lakh grant for each

Bengaluru: The ruling Congress has decided to speed up on its plans of setting up 10,000 Bharat Jodo youth associations across Karnataka just ahead of a string of elections including to panchayats and Bengaluru’s civic bodies scheduled this year.

Each association will get an annual grant of Rs 10 lakh, deputy chief minister G Parameshwara told the media. The youth clubs would be named after the 3000 km of yatra Rahul Gandhi undertook in 2022. The associations will be formed within a month, he told the media.

Each group will have between 100 and 250 members and will organize sports activities and cultural programmes. There was nothing wrong in spending about Rs 1000 crore on empowering the youth. The Cabinet discussed it extensively, the Dy CM added.

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“We intend to implement the scheme at the earliest. The formation of associations will be completed within a one month,” Parameshwara said.

The Congress regime’s plans, however, have raised eyebrows with the Opposition BJP suspecting that the scheme was intended to channel public funds to Congress workers. “What is the connection between Bharat Jodo and the government?” Oppositon leader R Ashoka recently said in a post on X.