New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday released its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with its president Rahul Gandhi describing it as the "voice of people".
Senior party leader P Chidambaram asserted that "wealth and welfare" is the manifesto's central theme.
Rahul Gandhi was joined by other top party leaders, including former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, as the opposition party unveiled its manifesto.
Chidambaram said real issues in the country are unemployment, farmer distress and women's safety among others and accused the ruling BJP of trying to take narrative to hyper nationalism.
Singh said the manifesto's purpose is to spell out the vision for the country to move towards forward-looking and inclusive economy and polity.
The Congress chief said if his party is elected to power, its government would spend six per cent of the GDP on education.
His party will work to unite the people, he said, accusing the Modi government of dividing the society and spreading hatred.
Promises ahead of Elections
From a monthly dole for the poor to jobs quota for women, the Congress has made a string of promises ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
These are the main promises made by Congress before the manifesto was released.
Assault on poverty
Congress will give Rs 72,000 ($1,038) to each of the country's poorest families every year if voted back to power, its president Rahul Gandhi said last week, calling the move a "final assault on poverty".
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The programme, to be implemented in phases, would benefit 250 million of a population of 1.3 billion.
The BJP has called the announcement a gimmick while some economists have called it fiscally irresponsible.
Jobs
Gandhi says there are 2.2 million vacant government jobs and that Congress will fill them by March 31, 2020 if voted back to power.
Women empowerment
The party has promised to reserve a third of federal government jobs for women and push through the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill, which provides for 33 percent of seats in national and state assemblies to be reserved for women.
Healthcare
Congress has promised to more than double healthcare spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2024, provide free diagnostics and medicines through public hospitals, set up more medical colleges and give financial support to medical students.
Education
It has promised to boost spending on education to 6 per cent of GDP by 2023/24, up from an estimated 2.7 per cent in 2018.
Removing redtape
Rahul Gandhi has said he will relax rules for new businesses and offer tax incentives to firms in order to create jobs if he comes to power.
New businesses would not need any government permissions in the first three years of operations.
Congress would scrap taxes on investors in new businesses and make bank loans easier.
GST
Congress has also promised to reform the goods and services tax into a "simple and minimum tax".
