Congress manifesto based on Rahul’s yatra to promise MSP law, caste census
The manifesto committee, led by former Union minister P Chidambaram will meet on Monday.
New Delhi The Congress party’s upcoming manifesto for 2024 Lok Sabha election will be based on the thrust areas of party leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (BJNY) and the party is set to announce a caste census to ascertain the share of the population of various caste groups and raise the upper limits of the existing quotas for SC, ST and OBCs, if it is necessary as per the census findings.
The manifesto is set to promise a law on MSP (minimum support prices) to cater to a key demand of the farmers and also announce that vacancies in all government offices would be filled up. According to a senior member of the party’s manifesto panel, the poll promises will have specific sops for women, youth, farmers and workers.
The ideological basis of the manifesto would come from the ongoing BJNY and it will address the theme of justice. In his Yatra, Gandhi has focused on saving the Constitution and emphasised on economic, social and political justice, which have been secured in the Preamble to the Constitution.
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The manifesto committee, led by former Union minister P Chidambaram will meet on Monday. “We will discuss the draft manifesto in the meeting,” said a Congress leader who is a member of the panel.
Underlining the link between the BJNY and the party’s poll promises, another Congress leader pointed out that the Yatra aims to “identify methods to deliver justice to every Indian”.
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“And this would also be the central theme of the manifesto for the 2024 elections.”
The portal of BJNY says, “Every woman deserves respect, each young person should have access to education and job opportunities, every farmer should receive the right price for their hard work and crops, every worker should earn a suitable income, and every citizen should have access to education and health care. The purpose of this Yatra is to establish an India where all sectors have a share in resources and institutions.”
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Gandhi had been vocal about the caste census during his BJNY. Everywhere he tries to point out the absence of SC, ST, OBCs among the top public institutions and the higher bureaucracy. From Aurangabad to Amethi, Gandhi had dubbed caste census as a social X-ray.
In Amethi, Gandhi said, “Every day I wonder what is the population of backwards? They are 50% of the population. Dalits are 15% and tribals are 8%. Together, they form 73% of our country. But not a single backward person owns the top 200 companies. In the top management, in media, in the top administration of big hospitals, how many people are from this 73%? Zero. 90 officers run the country. They distribute the budget. Only 3 of these 90 IAS officers are Dalit and Adivasis,” he said.
He also mentioned that farmers have faced “barricades that are used for tanks”. “The Congress will give legal guarantee to MSP. And we will do X-ray. Don’t look at here and there. You should ask, how much money did the government give me? Adani and I pay the same tax. But he gets crores and I don’t get any money, this is the question you should ask,” he said.
In the Hyderabad CWC on September 16 last year, the party passed a resolution calling for an increase in the existing upper limit of reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs.
In Morena on Saturday, Gandhi announced that the party will provide a law for MSP if it comes to power. The manifesto is also set to offer sops for youth, women, farmers and workers in the line of the guarantees given by the Congress governments in Karnataka and Telangana.
If the manifesto panel approves the draft, it will be sent to the Congress Working Committee for approval.
