New Delhi: The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will discuss the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections at its meeting on Tuesday and give the final shape to it with strong focus on 'social justice' emphasised by party leader Rahul Gandhi during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra besides some other crucial planks.
One of the highlight of the Congress manifesto for the coming Lok Sabha polls will be the imprint of former party chief Rahul Gandhi’s social justice narrative which he has been building through his just-concluded Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
According to party insiders, the manifesto is likely to promise a law to ensure transparency in government recruitment to end the problem of exam paper leaks and an assurance to fill up all the pending government vacancies in a phased manner if the INDIA alliance is voted to power.
The manifesto is likely to promise a legal MSP to address the concerns of the farmers and provide them justice. Further GSP on some important farm equipment and inputs could also be reduced to provide relief to the food growers.
As part of the focus on rural jobs, the party is likely to promise more funds for the MGNREGS. The party has been charging the central government of neglecting the rural jobs scheme started by the previous UPA regime. Further, as Rahul has been saying that small and medium businesses help create bulk jobs but have been ignored by the Centre, a provision for cheap loans might be made for the segment.
The convenor of the committee and former Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh TS Singh Deo without elaborating said the manifesto will in all likelihood reflect the ideas that the Congress is closely associated with and certainly bear the imprint of 'Rahul Gandhi’s social justice agenda'.
"The hallmark of the manifesto is likely to be a strong focus on the youth as Rahul Gandhi emphasises,” Singhdeo said.
On March 5, the party’s manifesto committee chaired by former finance minister P Chidambaram finalised the draft and handed over the same to party chief Mallikarjun Khargefor its approval document.
AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the CWC is likely to give its nod to the draft manifesto which carries the five 'guarantees' for justice.
The Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are the other members. According to Chidambaram, the party's manifesto for Lok Sabha polls will be a 'people's manifesto' and apart from public consultations by party leaders, suggestions have been taken through e-mail and websites.
Read more
