NEW DELHI: The Congress Working Committee, the party’s apex decision-making body, on Tuesday deliberated upon the election manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, which has a heavy thrust on the party’s ‘nyay’ agenda, and authorised party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to give final shape to it.
Addressing a press conference after the CWC meeting, Congress leader KC Venugopal said that the party will build on the momentum of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, during which it announced five guarantees. A plan has been prepared to take the message of the guarantees to the grassroots level, he said.
The centerpiece of the manifesto is the guarantees for youth, women, farmers and labourers as well as the promise of a caste census.
“These five guarantees are going to be a game-changer in this election,” said Venugopal, adding that the BJP’s “guarantees” are mere rhetoric and a “bunch of lies”.
Sources said the manifesto also includes the promise of implementing the old pension scheme (OPS) across the country and a law to ensure the independence of constitutional institutions and stop “misuse” of agencies.
Addressing the media, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Congress will release not just a manifesto but a ‘nyay patra’ so that people see a bright future.
The CWC lauded the guarantees released during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and discussed a roadmap to take these to every household in the country.
Ramesh said the aim is to take the guarantees under the ‘Panch Nyay’ — ‘Nari Nyay’, ‘Shramik Nyay’, ‘Kisaan Nyay’, ‘Yuva Nyay’ and ‘Hissedari Nyay’ — to every household.
Under the ‘Yuva Nyay’, the party has promised ‘Bharti Bharosa’ — 30 lakh new Central government jobs, according to a jobs calendar. Under the ‘Pehli Naukri Pakki’, the Congress has promised a one-year paid apprenticeship for all educated youths at `1 lakh a year or `8,500 a month.
The party has promised a law to ensure government recruitment examination question papers are not leaked and also better working conditions and social security for gig workers.
Scheme for women
As part of the ‘Nari Nyay’, the Congress has promised the ‘Mahalakshmi’ guarantee of `1 lakh a year for one woman in every poor family in the country.