Lok Sabha Election 2024: Congress Ups the Ante, Draws Roadmap to Recast Governance If Voted to Power

Raising stakes for the LS poll in its bid to upset PM Modi's bid for a third consecutive term, the Congress party manifesto targets large sections of society like youth, women, farmers, through specific programs and policies. The grand old party seeks to redress what it calls distress caused in society and governance in the “past 10 years of the Modi government." Here, ETV Bharat explores the overall strategy behind the Congress's manifesto.

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday came out with a detailed roadmap to recast governance in the country if the opposition bloc INDIA is voted to power at the Centre in the current Lok Sabha election.

The Congress party's leaders, who picked holes in the past 10 years of the Modi government, say that their party's 2024 Lok Sabha poll manifesto released today articulates the grand old party’s plans to deliver social justice, creating wealth through new economic policies and removing the existing anomalies in policies.

“The 25 guarantees reflect our commitment for the welfare of the youth, women, unorganized workers and farmers. These promises cover a large section of the population and include filling up of nearly 30 lakh existing government vacancies in a phased manner. These promises will be further aided by a detailed socio-economic and caste census which will be used to recast the entire set of social welfare schemes and will be proportionate to the share of various social groups in the overall population segment,” Manifesto Committee member TS Singh Deo told this channel.

“In terms of specific law creation, the party has given the guarantee for a new law for MSP to benefit the farmers and will scrap the controversial defense jobs scheme Agniveer under which the youth are recruited only for four years,” he said.

Singh Deo noted that the “past 10 years of the Modi government’s policies created distress both in society and the governance system” and said that the Congress manifesto “will not only address the existing problems but also pave the way for a prosperous future for all.”

AICC functionary Deepika Pandey Singh said “the promise of Rs 1 lakh annual money transfer into the accounts of poor women will provide the much- needed relief to the rural segment.” Also “reserving half of all central government jobs for women starting 2025 will give confidence to half the population,” she said.

The Congress which has been charging the Modi government with misusing Constitutional institutions, promised to protect the autonomy of bodies like the Election Commission, CIC and CAG, Human Rights Commission to restore confidence of the voters.

The Congress which has been flagging the issue of Electronic Voting Machines along with other opposition parties, promised to make the poll process transparent and said that it will allow 100 percent matching of EVM results with the VVPAT slips.

The grand old party which has been charging the Centre for misusing the probe agencies like the CBI, ED, also promised to pass a new law to ensure that bail would be the rule and not jail in the implementation of all criminal laws.

The party also promised that the police as well as other probe agencies will function strictly as per law and will be brought under the supervision of state legislatures and the Parliament.

Making a comparison between the performance of the previous UPA government and the Modi government, AICC functionary Abhishek Dutt said, “while the Indian economy grew at an average rate of 6.7 percent from 2004 to 2014, the same has been around 5.9 percent from 2014-2024.”

“You can see the difference despite the tall claims made by the Centre. Our focus would be on creating work opportunities for people, wealth for the country and on social welfare,” Dutt told this channel.

“The urban unemployment will be addressed through a MGNREGA like rural jobs scheme for the cities and there will be a new law to protect the gig economy workers who have no social security. Reforms in the industrial and labour laws will also be carried out. Besides, various charges levied by the banks will be reviewed. The faulty GST will be replaced with a new version to benefit small businesses,” he added.