The Congress party will shortly release its crowd-sourced manifesto, entitled ‘India’s New Tryst With Destiny’ for the Lok Sabha elections today, Tuesday, 2 April.
The Congress invokes former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s iconic speech delivered on the dawn of India’s Independence, called ‘India’s tryst with destiny.’
What We Know So Far
Party President Rahul Gandhi has outlined a number of initiatives that focus on economic and social issues, such as introducing the NYAY scheme, single-slab GST and filling 22 lakh government vacancies.
Bhalchandra Mungekar, a member of Congress party's manifesto committee, said on Tuesday, 2 April, "When we come to power, on the first day we will initiate an inquiry into Rafale deal and we have included this in the manifesto,” reported ANI.
According to a PTI report, Gandhi said the manifesto had a "strategic plan" for "huge scale" job creation, and a roadmap for the transformation of the agriculture sector, besides ways to boost small businesses and the economy at large.
On 26 March, Gandhi announced that his party would create the NYAY income guarantee scheme to guarantee Rs 72,000 a year per family for India’s poorest, in one of the party’s boldest election promises.
‘Manifesto Will Reflect Voice of the Masses’
The Congress had reached out to the public last year for inputs on the manifesto, and created the document through both social media and closed-door consultations.
In an interview with PTI on Friday, 29 March, Gandhi said the manifesto was prepared after extensive nationwide consultations with key stakeholders.
In a subtle dig at the Prime Minister, Gandhi said the manifesto will reflect the voice of the masses, and not just one man’s views.
According to the manifesto’s official website, the process took six months and received 31,875 inputs.
Livemint reported that the manifesto committee was chaired by former Union minister P Chidambaram, and was was divided into 20 different sub-groups which went into specific issues such as economy, agriculture, education and industry, among others.
Hints Through Tweets, Rally Speeches
Rahul Gandhi appears to be giving the public an insight into the party’s manifesto through his pointed comments on political, economic and social issues on social media, and of course, via rally speeches on the campaign trail as well.
On Monday, 1 April, Gandhi tweeted an apparent dig at the Modi government’s initiative of smart cities, writing, “Real smart cities are built by good leaders.” He added that the Congress government will shift to directly elected mayors if voted to power.
Through another tweet, Gandhi has hinted towards the manifesto’s agenda. On Sunday, 31 March, he tweeted that he will fill all the job vacancies in government positions by 2020, if elected.
On employment, the Congress has promised to reserve a third of Central government jobs for women and push the Women’s Reservation Bill, reported IANS.
On Sunday, 31 March, Lt General (Retd) DS Hooda presented a vision document, which is a comprehensive report on national security, that might find its way into the manifesto as well.
On Saturday, 30 March, he tweeted about creating employment while protecting the environment, and on Friday, 29 March, he also wrote that he would scrap the NITI Aayog and replace it will a “lean planning commission.”
Another rally promise has been to take healthcare spending to 3% of GDP and boost spending on education by taking it to 6% of GDP in the next five years if the party is voted to power.
Promises for Entrepreneurs
Unveiling his economic agenda, Gandhi, at a rally in Karnataka last week, announced that the Congress manifesto would cut red tape for businesses, and allow anyone to start a business without permits or clearances with a tax holiday for the first three years to encourage entrepreneurship.
INC spokesperson and member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, Rajeev Gowda, tweeted a thread further explaining Gandhi’s comments.
In an interview with PTI on 28 March, Gandhi said, “ We've said that we will remove the draconian and ill-conceived angel tax. I have made that commitment and it's going to be done.”
He added, “Solid incentives and tax credits will be given to new entrepreneurs based on how many jobs they create.”
(With inputs from Livemint , PTI and IANS)
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