Caste census in focus as Congress unveils manifesto for Jharkhand elections
The manifesto focused on seven promises including the 1932 Khatiyan (land records)-based domicile policy and implementation of Sarna religious code of the tribals.
The Congress on Tuesday released its manifesto for the Jharkhand assembly elections, promising to conduct caste-based census, increase the creamy layer cap for other backward classes (OBCs) from the current annual income of ₹8 lakh to ₹10 lakh, increase the free power supply from existing 200 units to 250 units per month, and filling all vacant state government posts within a year.
The Congress manifesto was unveiled by party manifesto committee chairman Bandhu Tirkey a day before the first phase of polling for 43 of the 81 assembly seats in the state. It also comes a day after its ally, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) released its manifesto for the elections.
“This is not a manifesto but the voice of the people of Jharkhand. We have worked for them and will continue to do so in the future,” Tirkey told reporters after unveiling the manifesto.
“Keeping in mind the interests of the tribals in Jharkhand, the manifesto committee held a chaupal in every district and interacted with the public. We made every effort to ensure that our manifesto is for the common people,” he added.
The manifesto focused on seven promises including the 1932 Khatiyan (land records)-based domicile policy and implementation of Sarna religious code of the tribals.
“The manifesto promises free electricity up to 250 units to the poor as against 200 units at present. We will fill up all vacant government posts in a year,” Tirkey said, adding the party will conduct a social audit of its manifesto every six months to ensure its effective implementation.
The party, along with its INDIA bloc allies, released seven guarantees for Jharkhand last week, including increasing the reservation to tribals, Dalits and OBCs; giving MSP of ₹3,200 for paddy; 7 kg free ration per person under the food security Act, among others.
The promise for caste-based enumeration, although not part of the INDIA bloc guarantees, has made it to the Congress manifesto. Congress lawmaker Rahul Gandhi has reiterated the demand for caste census in almost all his poll rallies. The JMM, led by chief minister Hemant Soren, has not included caste census in its manifesto, and instead it has promised to institute a separate government department for the welfare of OBCs.
Jharkhand goes to polls on November 13 and 20 in two phases while the results will be announced on November 23. According to the INDIA bloc seat sharing, the JMM is contesting on maximum 43 seats, followed by the Congress on 30 seats. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and CPI-ML are contesting in six and four constituencies, respectively. In some assembly segments, the alliance partners are engaged in friendly fights.