Eye on Polls: Congress manifesto continues to raise storm, draw flak from BJP

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday once again slammed the Congress for its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections that was released on April 5.

Addressing a rally in support of BJP candidate Jitin Prasada in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said the Congress manifesto reflects the ideology of the Muslim League and follows the policy of “appeasement”.

Last week too, PM Modi had criticised the Congress manifesto, calling it a “bundle of lies” with “each page” smelling of “dividing the nation”.

“The Congress wants to impose the ideas of the Muslim League of the past era on the India of today. The Leftists have dominated the part of this manifesto bearing the imprint of the Muslim League,” PM Modi had said while speaking at a rally in Rajasthan’s Pushkar last week.

The Congress manifesto has been in the eye of a storm ever since it was released, with several experts pointing out that it has some similarities with the 1936 Muslim League manifesto and Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s 14-point formulation of 1929.

The Congress’ ‘Nyay Patra’ promises to encourage reform of personal laws “undertaken with the participation and consent of the communities concerned”.

To recall, the Centre led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in 2019 enacted a law against ‘triple talaq’, which made the social malpractice a criminal offence.

Muslim women across the country too overwhelmingly welcomed the move, which saw a significant decline in such cases after the law came into force.

Experts reckon that Congress’ promise to give veto to the community for any reforms in personal laws would be just like what the Muslim League gave in the pre-Independence era.

It has also irked the government, which believes that India’s development journey is closely interlinked with the empowerment of its women.

Similarly, the Congress manifesto speaks about restoring the Maulana Azad scholarships for studying abroad and increasing the number of scholarships.

The Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) Scheme was discontinued by the Modi government from 2022-23 as it “overlapped” with various other fellowship programmes for higher education, which already covered students from the minority community.

The Congress manifesto also states that the party will ensure that, like every citizen, minorities will have the “freedom of choice of dress, food, language and personal laws”.

It is pertinent to mention that southern India has witnessed a lot of politics over hijab, beef and love jihad since last year.

The Congress is also facing flak for promising in its manifesto that it will not interfere with the “personal choices of food and dress, to love and marry, and to travel and reside in any part of India”.

The Congress, meanwhile, moved the Election Commission Monday accusing the Centre of “spreading falsehood” about its manifesto, which it said has “created panic” in the BJP.

“Even today, they are invoking the Muslim League against the Congress Nyay Patra, which has been guided and shaped according to the aspirations, needs and demands of the common Indians,” Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge posted on social media.

Irrespective of the criticisms, the Congress said that its manifesto is the “voice of India based on the five pillars of justice” which has an “indelible imprint” on the people of the country. – IANS