New Delhi:
The Congress party on Tuesday released its much-awaited manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Terming the manifesto a marriage of "wealth and welfare", the Congress party said that it will "address the concerns of the farmers, youth, women, industries, minorities, healthcare, foreign policy, national security among others." In the manifesto, which was prepared after taking inputs from over 62 lakh people, the Congress party announced a separate budget for farmers. "The manifesto is a massive step for Congress. When we started this process a year back, I told them that this manifesto should reflect the wishes of the people and whatever is present in the document should be truthful,” Rahul Gandhi said during the launch event.
Below are the highlights of Congress party's 2019 general elections manifesto
Congress manifesto website down due to heavy traffic.
"We're experiencing heavy traffic on our Manifesto website right now - we'll be back up soon," tweeted the party.
Under the MGNREGA scheme, jobs guarantee will be increased for 150 days, instead of 100 days.
#CongressManifesto | Today everyone knows how much MGNREGA helped the country. So now we want to guarantee jobs for 150 days, instead of 100 days, under the scheme, says @RahulGandhi.
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— News Nation (@NewsNationTV) April 2, 2019
#CongressManifesto | The narrative is NYAY. If Modi can put Rs 30,000 directly in Anil Ambani's pocket, Congress can also put money directly in poor man's pocket, says @RahulGandhi
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In what could be the game changer in Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi announced a separate budget for farmers.
#CongressManifesto | Like separate Railway budget, there should also be a separate Farmers budget," says @RahulGandhi.
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"This is not a manifesto made in closed rooms. NYAY, jobs and farmers are among our focal points. NYAY will help the economy. We will deliver money to the poorest people in the country," says Rahul Gandhi.
"Rich people like Anil Ambani gets bank loan easily but when farmers go to banks, they face a lot of hurdles. And when they are unable to pay their loans, it becomes a criminal offense. If the Congress party comes to power, it will be changed to the civilian offense," says Rahul Gandhi.
"I asked our manifesto committee to tell me the truth about the jobs as I didn't want to make fake 2 crore jobs promise like Narendra Modi. I have been told that 22 lakhs government posts are vacant. Congress party will fill those vacant post by 2020," announces Rahul Gandhi.
"Whatever is going to be there in the manifesto has to be true. I don't want anything to feature in the manifesto that is a lie," says Rahul Gandhi.
Now comes the Congress president Rahul Gandhi. He begins his speech by thanking party seniors.
"The real issues are unemployment, 4.70 crore jobs were lost under the Modi-led government. Farm distress is the second biggest issue. The third is the security of women," says Chidambaram.
"You will find there is enough in the manifesto which addresses the concerns of Dalits, youths, minority, the state of healthcare and education and that concerns the internal and national security," says Congress manifesto committee incharge P Chidambaram.
"Today is a historic day. Today’s Congress manifesto will help to make a strong and developed India," says Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
"Rahul Gandhi said he wanted something different this time in mainfesto, he said go out and listen to people of India and reflect it in manifesto. We took our mission very seriously, this manifesto reflects the ideas and hopes of people of India," says Gowda.
"More than 62 lakh inputs were received from people across the country for the manifesto," says Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Gowda.
LIVE: Congress President @RahulGandhi launches 2019 Manifesto. #CongressManifesto2019 https://t.co/th35WGsl63
— Congress (@INCIndia) April 2, 2019
How Congress party prepared its manifesto: Last year, the Congress had reached out to the people seeking suggestions for the manifesto. Besides, suggestions from the people of the country and behind the door consultations, the party had also used social media to take inputs.
Congress general secretary in-charge Uttar Pradesh East Priyanka Gandhi reaches party headquarters in Delhi.
What may feature in Congress' 'crowdsourced' manifesto
1. NYAY scheme: Already announced by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, NYAY scheme is very likely to feature in Congress' election manifesto.
2. Reservation for women. Rahul Gandhi has long been demanding the Narendra Modi government to bring the woman's reservation bill in the parliament. It is highly likely the issue may feature in the party's manifesto.
3. Farm loan waiver: When the Congress party won Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the first thing their respective governments did was they waived farm loans. Rahul Gandhi has also spoken about the growing agrarian crisis and may announce loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh to give to farmers.
4. Jobs for youth: Employment has been one of the many issues on which the Narendra Modi government failed to deliver. While the BJP is fighting 2019 elections on nationalism, the Congress has made unemployment their key poll issue and Rahul Gandhi is likely to make a major announcement for the youth of the country.
5. Probe in Rafale deal: Irregularities in Rafale deal has been a major political issue the Modi government had face. Congress chief has been demanding a probe in the deal and a promise related to the issue will probably feature in the Congress' manifesto.
Congress party to release its manifesto shortly. Party president Rahul Gandhi will be present during the launch event.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is taking a meeting of manifesto committee members ahead of the meeting.
— Congress (@INCIndia) April 1, 2019
