The Congress recently released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections. The party has named it Nyay Patra-2024. Reading this 48-page document, it seems that the Congress is in a dilemma. In this, the party is seen to be tacitly supporting the policies of the Modi government on the issue of national security. It seems to be correcting its mistakes on the economic front. At the same time, it seems to be fully engaged with leftist ideology on social issues. His support for Muslim Personal Law seems to be an extension of this. Perhaps that is why Prime Minister Modi has said that the Congress’s justice paper bears the imprint of the Muslim League and the Left. In its manifesto, the Congress has promised to deliver justice through five Nyay and 25 guarantees. Of the 77 years of independent India, the Congress has been in power for about 55 years. Suppose justice was never guaranteed during his rule?
In fact, the influence of left-leaning people in the advisers of the Congress leadership has increased, the effect of which is also seen in the letter of justice. The demand for the old pension scheme was the result of this. During the last few assembly elections, the party had vociferously promised to implement it. It was believed that the Congress won the Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh elections on the same issue, but the party remained silent on it in the letter. Maybe he’s starting to feel that it’s not financially advisable. On the other hand, the implementation of only five guarantees in Karnataka has led to the suspension of schemes worth twenty thousand crores of rupees. The Congress government in Himachal is also feeling the pinch on this front. The Gehlot government, which was in power in Rajasthan, had announced to implement it, but it was also troubled due to lack of funds. Perhaps that is why the Congress has avoided the issue now.
In the last Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had promised the Nyuntam Nyay scheme, but this time the party has reneged on it. The Congress seems to have realised that it is not easy to implement minimum justice or the old pension scheme. In the letter, the party has made unemployment an issue, but in the direction of removing it, it has promised to provide three million jobs in the labour sector alone. The idea of government jobs has leftist thinking at its core, which was also accepted by the Nehruvian socialist system. The Congress is “obsessed” with Nehruvian, socialism with leftist thinking on this front, but the question is whether public sector jobs can bring success to such a vast country on the employment front?
It is the Left thinking that the Congress is promising to conduct caste census and increase the reservation limit beyond 50 per cent. The demand for caste enumeration was also raised during the 1951 census, but then Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel rejected it. Sardar Patel believed that this would increase caste tensions. The Modi government has provided ten per cent reservation to economically weaker sections.
The Congress has also promised to include every class in the ambit of this reservation. For the last few years, some agitating farmer organizations have been demanding a guarantee of MSP in line with the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. Governments have shied away from accepting it fully under economic pressure. Since the Congress has been supporting their movement, its effect is also visible on the judiciary. Because of the Leftist mindset, the Congress has forgotten that the Manmohan Singh-led government had turned down the demand. The Congress has also promised to repeal the GST. Though the idea of GST was conceived during the Manmohan Singh government, the Congress is now rejecting it under the influence of the Left. In its last manifesto, the party had opposed even a law like AFSPA related to national security, but this time along with it, on Article-370 and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the party has remained silent. It does not seem to be in a position to oppose the central government’s decision on these issues.
The Congress has also filed a complaint with the Election Commission in this regard. The Left has also often questioned the judiciary. As a result, in the justice letter, the Congress has talked about making the Election Commission autonomous, as well as increasing caste and women’s participation in the judiciary. The party has also promised to scrap laws that violate personal liberty. Personal laws are mostly associated with minority communities, especially Muslims. It is clear that the party is in a way supporting personal laws and opposing laws like triple talaq. In recent years, the Left and the Congress have been at the forefront of questioning the EVMs, but in the letter of justice, the party has supported the EVMs. However, the counting of VVPATs has been put on hold. Apart from this, the Congress is in support of an anti-defection law in which the membership of an MP or MLA will automatically end as soon as the party changes. Now the results of the Lok Sabha elections will show how much the voters trusted the justice letter of the Congress.
