In 2019, Congress’s manifesto primarily focussed on economy, livelihoods
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Sankalp Patra, or the poll manifesto, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections focused on nationalism, agriculture, infrastructure, and governance
The Congress on Friday released its manifesto ahead of the April-June national polls focussed on equity, youth, women, farmers, workers, Constitution, economy, federalism, national security, and environment. In 2019, its manifesto had two broad strands focusing primarily on the economy and livelihoods. The party then promised Nyuntam Aay Yojna or a minimum income of ₹6000 monthly to 20% of India’s poorest citizens.
The Congress in 2019 committed to filling government recruitments and removing regulations in starting an enterprise. It also promised a farmer budget and committed to converting non-payment of farm loans into a civil offence.
The Congress manifesto then pledged to create a more liberal political order. It promised to drop the sedition law, review the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, and hold police and administration accountable for negligence in case of riots and hate crimes. The Congress also promised to bring a law on privacy and to restrict the use of Aadhaar.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Sankalp Patra, or the poll manifesto, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections focused on nationalism, agriculture, infrastructure, and governance. It promised a zero-tolerance to terrorism. The BJP in 2019 pledged to speed up the purchases of equipment and weapons for the armed forces and to strengthen their strike capability.
Five years back, it promised to amend the citizenship law for the protection of religious minorities from neighbouring countries escaping persecution. It also reiterated its position on its core agenda of abrogating the Constitution’s Article 370, which gave Jammu and Kashmir semi-autonomous status, as well on the Ram Mandir. The BJP said it will explore all possibilities within the Constitution and necessary efforts to facilitate the expeditious construction of the temple in Ayodhya.
The BJP also promised Uniform Civil Code (UCC) or a common set of laws for personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and succession for all citizens.
The BJP in March 2024 fulfilled one of the key promises made in its 2019 election manifesto with the notification of the rules for the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to fast-track the citizenship process for non-Muslims, who have entered India from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan on or before December 31, 2014.
Uttarakhand became the first state to pass a law for UCC in February. Other BJP-ruled states such as Assam have promised to implement UCC. Parliament passed the legislation to read down Article 370 in August 2019 while the consecration of the Ram temple took place on January 25.
The BJP in the 2019 manifesto also promised a pension scheme for all small and marginal farmers in the country and macroeconomic stability. The BJP, five years back, said it aspires to make India the third-largest economy by 2030 and to make India a US $5 trillion economy by 2025 and US$ 10 trillion economy by 2032.
The 2019 BJP manifesto promised to create jobs and to optimally leverage the untapped employment generation of the potential sectors such as defence and pharmaceuticals. It added women would be made equal partners and equal beneficiaries of the progress and prosperity of the nation. The BJP in 2019 promised to formulate a comprehensive “Women in Workforce” roadmap focused on dramatically increasing the female workforce participation rate over the next five years.