Elections 2019: Battle Of The Manifestos, National Security Versus Jobs
While both parties have large, pro-poor schemes in their manifestos; the pitch, tone and tenor differ vastly.
The relevance of election manifestos has dimmed over the last few elections, but this time around both national parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress have come out with relatively detailed statements on what governance they promise voters. While both parties have large, pro-poor schemes in their manifestos; the pitch, tone and tenor differ vastly.
Leader Versus Party
While the BJP manifesto is all about Narendra Modi as the cover displays, the Congress manifesto is about the party and the Congress’ past governance record.
Pitch To The Voter
The BJP manifesto’s first key set of poll promises begin with national security. The first line talks about surgical strikes and air strikes and goes on to detail the party’s commitment to security. While the issue does feature in the Congress manifesto too, the prime focus for the Congress is jobs. The first set of promises in the Congress document is about filling vacant government jobs within set timelines.
Also Read: BJP Manifesto – Reading Between The Lines
NYAY Versus PM Kisan
It was widely expected that the BJP would attempt a counter to the Congress’ NYAY scheme that promises Rs 72,000 per year to five crore families. The BJP’s response has been to extend the PM Kisan scheme—that gives marginal farmers Rs 6,000 per year—to all farmers. Currently the scheme is restricted for farmers with landholdings of less than two hectares.
Startups
One of the big promises to new businesses in the Congress manifesto, was to free new companies from all applicable laws and regulations except minimum wage and tax laws. There is also a promise to abolish the Angel Tax. BJP, meanwhile, promises collateral free credit of Rs 50 lakh and a startup seed fund of Rs 20,000 crore.
Big Spends
Both the BJP and the Congress don’t hesitate to promise big outlays. Neither has answers as to where the money would come from. While the Congress’ NYAY scheme would cost below 1 percent of GDP in year one and then below 2 percent from the second year, there is also a promise to spend up to 9 percent of GDP on health and education by 2024.
The BJP manifesto has its set of big numbers as well, Rs 100 lakh crore on infrastructure and Rs 25 lakh crore on agriculture.
Ideological Stance
The BJP manifesto features statements that appeal to the party’s core voters and reiterates long-standing positions. Be it the abrogation of Article 370 and repealing Article 35A of the Constitution, resettling Kashmiri pandits or building the Ram Mandir. These aren’t new promises either but this time there is also a mention of the Sabarimala dispute, the National Registry for Citizens and the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
The Congress manifesto talks about reviewing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, a re-look at army deployment in the Kashmir valley, new laws for hate crimes and laws against discrimination and proposes removing the sedition law.
Tamanna Inamdar is Senior Editor at BloombergQuint.