Team Herald
NEW DELHI: The Congress manifesto says the choice before the people is crystal clear in this Lok Sabha elections that are crucial to India’s future and their children’s future.
It asks these questions on the choices they will have to make while casting their votes:
“Do we choose freedom or fear? Do we choose harmony or hatred? Do we choose inclusion or exclusion? Do we choose dignity or oppression? Do we choose prosperity for all or wealth for a few? Do we choose results or jumlas? Do we choose justice or injustice?”
“Our allies and other progressive political parties across the country recognise the importance of this moment. We have, therefore, come together to defeat the BJP-led coalition and set out nation on the right course….Our record speaks for itself. We have delivered prosperity for the people of India before. We will do it again,” the manifesto said.
In its manifesto, the Congress is quite clear to get investigated several deals entered by the BJP government in the last five years and, in particular, the Rafale deal, and enforce anti-corruption laws without discrimination. It will also investigate the circumstances under which a number of scamsters were allowed to leave the country and take determined steps to bring them back to face legal proceedings, the manifesto said.
Congress affirms its believe that civil society organisations and groups are an important pillar of parliamentary democracy and we will engage with civil society activists and organisations and draw on their experience and knowledge.
Whether it succeeds or not in the Supreme Court in a joint PIL filed with 20 other parties for matching at least 50% of the EVMS with the voting slips of the attached VVPATs, it will enforce it on coming to power while ensuring that the EVMs and VVPATs are tamperproof. Scrapping the electoral bond scheme that was designed to favour the ruling party an setting up a national election fund to raise money to be allocated to the recognised parties at the time of the elections are the two other promises on the electoral reforms.
Though Rahul Gandhi put NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) at the top of five big ideas in the manifesto, it finds place in the document only at item no. 9 as the top position goes to Kaam or Employment and growth because of which item No 1 is Jobs, followed by industry, infrastructure, urban development, rural development, unorganised sector, agriculture and farmers and economic policy.
The item getting priority immediately after NYAY is taxation and tax reforms that promises to end the tax terrorism unleashed by he BJP government, enact the Direct Taxes Code(DTC) in the first year of the government to usher in an era of simplicity, transparency, easy compliance and impartial administration in income tax and replace current GST laws with GST 2.0 based on a single, moderate, standard rate of tax, with a special rate of duty only on demerit goods.
Abolition of the e-way bill, no GST liability on the purchase from unregistered businesses that supply goods and services and simple return forms are other promises. It also promises to put both GST and income tax or DTC as essentially civil laws attracting civil penalties for violations except in the cases of criminal conspiracy, corruption or fraud.
On the banking front, the Congress manifesto promises small banks at state level to provide credit to MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and reducing the public sector banks to only six to eight and making them lend to priority and other disadvantaged sectors that are denied adequate credit.
On the national security front, the Congress promises to increase the defence funding to meet the requirements of the armed forces in their modernisation and establish the office of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) as the principal adviser to the government on matters relating to defence.
The Congress wants to take the foreign policy a step further by setting up a national Council on Foreign Policy comprising members of the Cabinet Committee on Security, scholars, domain experts and diplomats to advise the government on matters concerning foreign policy.
It also promises compensation to the families of the Armed Forces martyrs in the form of full pay and allowances, funding children’s education nd a government job for a member of the family and suitable monetary compensation.
It promises to remove the anomalies left by the Modi government in OROP (one rank, one pension) to the ex-servicemen and promises a policy to let the retired Armed Forces personnel have lateral entry into the civil services and those retiring before the age of 40 years join the central armed police forces at suitable levels.
