Jigmi Wangdi

More women voters turned up at the on-going General Election 2023 campaign at Draagteng-Langthil constituency under Trongsa dzongkhag.

Contesting candidates from both People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP) presented their pledges in Dandoong and Tagtsela chiwog yesterday, that ranged from water, youth employment, support for senior citizens, agriculture, infrastructure, and mining.

BTP’s candidate, Dorji, pledged to address water scarcity, improve roads, and even install deep-freezers in crematoriums.

“When a youth applies for a job, they are asked for the number of years of experience which disqualifies them because they just graduated. We want to address this issue by employing youth without experience,” Dorji said on promoting youth employment.

“We will also provide a monthly stipend of Nu 5,000 to the youth until they find a job,” Dorji said, adding that his party will also financially support senior citizens of 65 years and above.

Dorji said that BTP also pledges to develop agriculture, infrastructure and mining to boost the country’s economic development.

Meanwhile, the PDP candidate, Namgay Dorji, pledged better services in health, education, besides interest-free loans on agriculture machinery, and an 80 percent loan equity on utility vehicles per family.

He said that PDP will ensure support for further studies and training abroad for one youth from every household.

And as pledged elsewhere, Namgay Dorji introduced the incentive to encourage families to have more children. “We will give Nu 10,000 for the third child in the family,” he told the gathering.

The forum saw more female voters turnout, who said they would vote for the part that will benefit the country.

“We do not have any personal expectations from the candidates. We just hope that whichever party we vote for will help develop our country further,” a voter said.

The live debate of the Draagteng-Langthil constituency will be held on December 24.