10

Apr

The Poor and the  Deprived at heart of  Congress manifesto

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Today’s Edition

New Delhi

Syed Khalique Ahmad

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 Focusing primarily on the theme of justice as the ‘Nyay Patra’, the manifesto of the Congress party for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, released in New Delhi last week, has called upon the people of India to make their choices between democratic governance or authoritarian rule, freedom or fear and prosperity for all or wealth for a few. Billed as the “document of justice”, the manifesto was released by former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who headed the party’s Manifesto Committee.

The manifesto has presented the general elections as an opportunity for radically changing the style and substance of governance that has been in evidence in the past decade of ‘Anyay Kaal’ (era of injustice). “We appeal to you to look beyond religion, language and caste, choose wisely, and install a democratic government that will work for all the people of India,” the manifesto stated while appealing to the voters to elect the Indian National Congress to power at the Centre.

 

Article at a Glance

The Congress party released its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, titled "Nyay Patra," focusing on the theme of justice. The document calls for a choice between democratic governance and authoritarian rule, freedom or fear, and prosperity for all or wealth for a few.

 The manifesto accuses the BJP regime of being a government "of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich" and promises to lift 23 crore people out of poverty if Congress comes to power. The manifesto was compiled after nationwide consultations and includes promises to probe the electoral bonds scheme and PM Cares Fund, reverse the damage done by the Modi government, curb hate speeches, and repair India's international image.

The manifesto also promises to hold 100 days of Parliament in a year, guarantee a national minimum wage of Rs. 400 per day, and provide Rs. 1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family under the Mahalakshmi scheme. The manifesto also promises to raise the 50% cap on reservations for SC, ST, and OBC and conduct a nationwide socio-economic and caste census.

The manifesto also includes promises for minorities, such as ensuring banks provide institutional credit without discrimination and restoring Maulana Azad Scholarships for study abroad. The manifesto steers clear of the Old Pension Scheme for government employees and does not mention a return to paper ballots. Instead, the manifesto promises to amend election laws to combine the efficiency of the electronic voting machine and the transparency of the ballot paper. The manifesto also promises to probe registered cases against those who joined the BJP.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and senior leader Rahul Gandhi released the manifesto along with Chidambaram. Following up on the theme of justice, the manifesto’s second broad theme was to create wealth through investments.

Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party regime of being a government “of the rich, by the rich and for the rich,” Chidambaram said the Congress would focus on the bottom 50% of the population. “If Congress comes to power, we will lift 23 crore people out of poverty. We have done it before and we can do it again,” he said.

Kharge affirmed that the Congress was dedicating the manifesto to the poor people of the country and said it was a result of extensive consultation and participation by the people. The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, focused on five pillars of justice. “We have included every one of them and 25 guarantees come out of the five pillars or Paanch Nyay,”  Kharge said.

The five pillars of justice included ‘Yuva Nyay’, ‘Naari Nyay’, ‘Kisaan Nyay’, ‘Shramik Nyay’ and ‘Hissedari Nyay’ as well as the guarantees made by Congress to the people as part of its poll promises. The party will conduct a nationwide Socio-Economic and Caste Census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions and it will pass a constitutional amendment to raise the 50% cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC.

The Congress manifesto was compiled after carrying out nationwide consultations and after receiving thousands of suggestions via email and the ‘Awaaz Bharat Ki’ website. “I urge everyone to have a close look at our manifesto and you will see a beautiful picture of our country in it,” Kharge said while addressing the gathering.

“We will open the doors to the poor when we come to power. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking our people and claiming ‘400 Paar’ MPs,” Kharge said, adding that only those who had done something and had feared were quitting the party to join the BJP. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) met in March and deliberated thoroughly on the party’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections.

To probe BJP’s electoral bonds scheme, PM Cares Fund

As the Congress faces an uphill battle while trying to win back the voters’ confidence, the manifesto has made a promise to probe the electoral bonds scheme and PM Cares Fund and rejected the concept of one nation-one election, while several of its sections have promised to undo key policy initiatives and promises of the Narendra Modi government if the party comes to power.

Defending the Constitution

Under the section, “Defending the Constitution”, the party talked about reversing the damage done by the Modi government. “We promise that all anti-people laws passed by the BJP/NDA without proper parliamentary scrutiny and debate, especially those relating to workers, farmers, criminal justice, environment and forests and digital data protection, will be thoroughly reviewed and changed,” it said.

“We will carry out complete investigations of the electoral bonds scam, the reckless sale of public assets, the PM CARES scam, repeated intelligence failures at the highest levels, and corruption in major defence deals,” added the manifesto. The Rafale fighter jet deal, Pegasus spyware, and demonetisation of high-value currency were listed as deals and policies that would be probed if the party got elected to power.

Congress to curb hate speeches

The Congress party also promised to put down hate speeches, hate crimes and communal conflicts, immediately stop extra-judicial and illegal measures such as mob lynching, encounter killings and bulldozer justice, and promised to review all laws that interfere with the right to privacy. The manifesto promised that the party would not interfere with personal choices like food, dress, or the right to marry.

The manifesto also promised to repair India’s international image which has been damaged by the present government’s intolerance of dissent and suppression of human rights. Taking a dig at the BJP government over the face-off with China, the Congress promised to restore the status quo ante and asserted that national security cannot be enhanced by “chest-thumping or exaggerated claims but by quiet attention to our borders and resolute defence preparedness”.

Taking youth and the working population as key target groups, the manifesto promised a one-time loan waiver on all educational loans up to March 15, revisited Centrally conducted exams such as NEET and CUET, abolished application fees for public examinations and government posts, increased the wage under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to Rs. 400 per day and have an urban employment guarantee programme.

Congress manifesto rejects ‘one nation, one election’ idea

The manifesto rejected the ‘one nation-one election’ idea and promised to hold elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies as and when they are due. The manifesto also promised to amend election laws to ensure that voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips are tallied with Electronic Voting Machines.

Promising to hold 100 days of Parliament in a year, the manifesto said the Presiding Officers of both Houses will have to sever their connection with any political party, remain neutral and observe the age-old norm, “The Speaker doesn’t speak.” The party also proposed amending the anti-defection law under the Tenth Schedule to ensure automatic disqualification of defectors.

Promises full statehood to Jammu & Kashmir

The party also promised full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, amend the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to include the tribal areas of Ladakh, offer special status to Andhra Pradesh, full statehood to Puducherry and amend the Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi Act, 1991 to make the Lieutenant-Governor act on the aid and advice of Council of Ministers of NCT, Delhi.

Congress to abolish the Agniveer programme

The key takeaways from the Congress manifesto included the abolition of the Agniveer programme and direction to the Armed Forces to resume normal recruitment to achieve full sanctioned strength, guarantee of national minimum wage at Rs. 400 per day, launch of Mahalakshmi scheme to provide Rs. 1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family, filling up of nearly 30 lakh vacancies in sanctioned posts at various levels in the Central Government and implementation of 10% quota in jobs and educational institutions for economically weaker sections (EWS) for all castes, communities without discrimination.

Promises to raise 50% cap on quota for SC, ST & OBC

While the Rajasthan model of cashless insurance of up to Rs. 25 lakh will be adopted for universal healthcare, a constitutional amendment to raise the 50% cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC was promised in addition to a nationwide socio-economic and caste census. A new Right to Apprenticeship Act to provide a one-year apprenticeship to every diploma holder or graduate below the age of 25 was also one of the promises.

Legal Guarantee for MSP

Legal guarantee to Minimum Support Prices announced by the government every year as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission and the launch of an urban employment programme guaranteeing work for urban poor in reconstruction and renewal of urban infrastructure were some of the other important subjects which the manifesto has dealt with.

Pledges for minorities

The 46-page document also holds attraction for linguistic and religious minority communities given its promises covering a wide range of areas of interest. The Congress will encourage and assist students and youth belonging to minorities to take full advantage of the growing opportunities in education, employment, business, services, sports, arts and other fields. Besides, the Maulana Azad Scholarships for study abroad will be restored with an increase in the number of scholarships.

The economic empowerment of minorities is a necessary step for India to realise its full potential. The Congress will ensure that banks provide institutional credit to minorities without discrimination and will make sure that the minorities receive their fair share of opportunities in education, healthcare, public employment, public works contracts, skill development, sports and cultural activities without discrimination.

“Congress will ensure that, like every citizen, minorities have the freedom of choice of dress, food, language and personal laws. We will encourage the reform of personal laws. Such reform must be undertaken with the participation and consent of the communities concerned,” the manifesto stated.

However, the manifesto steered clear of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for the government employees, after pitching for it and making it a part of its plank in the Assembly elections. The Congress governments have reverted to OPS in the states where it came to power. The Congress had earlier also demanded a return to paper ballots. In 2018, the party had passed a resolution at its AICC session seeking a return to the paper ballot system. But the manifesto is silent on that count too.

Vows to amend election laws

Instead, the manifesto has promised to amend the election laws to combine the efficiency of the electronic voting machine (EVM) and the transparency of the ballot paper. “Voting will be through the EVM but the voter will be able to hold and deposit the machine-generated voting slip into the voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) unit. The electronic vote tally will be matched against the VVPAT slip tally,” the manifesto said.

Pledges to probe registered cases against those who joined the BJP      

On the front of corruption, the manifesto pointed out that during the last 10 years, the nation had seen that several measures taken by the NDA government were a cloak for corruption. Some examples are demonetisation, the Rafale deal, Pegasus spyware, and the Electoral Bonds scheme. Congress will probe these dubious deals and schemes and bring to law those who made illegal gains through these measures. “The BJP has turned out to be a giant washing machine. Accused in registered cases who joined the BJP were allowed to escape the law. The allegations against such persons will be revived and investigated,” the manifesto declared.

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