Rahul releases Congress Assam poll manifesto, attacks RSS and BJP

Guwahati, March 20 (IANS): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday released the party’s manifesto for the Assam polls. He also hit out at the RSS and the BJP saying they are attacking India’s diverse culture, languages, way of thinking, traditions and history.

Releasing the Congress manifesto for the Assam assembly elections, Gandhi said that the Congress would not only provide “five guarantees” incorporated in the manifesto, the party would defend the harmony, traditions, language and history of Assam.

Gandhi told the media that it (manifesto) is actually a people’s manifesto to protect Assam and was prepared after lots of discussion with the people and cross sections of leaders and workers and contains the aspirations of people of Assam.

“Congress government if voted to power would maintain zero tolerance against corruption,” he said adding that the BJP has damaged a lot of the country’s economy through the “notebandi” (demonetisation), “Hum-do hamara do Sarkar”, faulty GST implementation and the three contentious farm laws.

“Demonetisation, GST and other policies of the BJP government also increased unemployment in the country,” the Congress leader said. He added that the Congress is smoothly running governments in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab and these governments are managing the economies of these states well while Assam’s economy is mismanaged by the BJP government.

In the manifesto the Congress, which was in power in the state for 15 years (2001-2016) until the BJP-led alliance came to power in the last assembly polls (2016), has given “five guarantees” to be fulfilled if the party came to power. These “five guarantees” include five lakh government jobs to youths in five years, upto 200 units of free electricity per household, INR 365 daily wage to tea garden workers and INR 2000 per month to housewives besides the guarantee not to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the state.

To take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the forthcoming elections, the Congress has formed a ‘Mahajot’ (grand alliance) with three Left parties – CPI (M), CPI and CPI (ML) — along with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the Anchalik Gana Morcha, Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) along with two community-based parties – Jimochayan (Deori) People’s Party (JDPP) and Adivasi National Party (ANP).

The 126-member Assam Assembly will go to the polls in three phases on March 27 (47 seats), April 1 (39 seats) and April 6 (40 seats). The results will be declared on May 2.