New Delhi: As voting for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 is getting nearer, both the leading political parties – Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – have introduced their manifestos outlining their visions and commitments for the next five years. While Congress has termed its manifesto ‘Nyay Patra’, the BJP titles it ‘Sankalp Patra’ riding in the ‘Modi Ki Guaranteee’ slogan.
Both the BJP and the Congress have delineated their primary commitments and priorities for Women and Farmer – two sections that constitute more than half of India’s population. Now let’s analyse and compare the pledges outlined by each party in their respective manifestos.
Promises For Farmers
We always heard the term ‘India is an agrarian nation’ and still most of the population emerged from the agriculture sector and plays a crucial role in vote banking. Similar to previous manifestos, both political parties have made commitments to farmers, a crucial vote bank.
Congress- The party pledges to give a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) announced annually by the government. They also promise to appoint a Permanent Commission on Agricultural Finance to regularly assess agriculture credit and recommend measures for loan relief when needed.
On the other hand, the BJP promised to continue to increase MSP from time to time and pledged to strengthen the PM Fasal Bima Yojana by integrating advanced technologies, ensuring swift and precise assessment, expedited payouts, and prompt resolution of grievances
Promises For Women
Women play a key role in shaping the vote bank of any political party.
The Grand Old Party, Congress promised to launch a Mahalakshmi scheme which provides one lakh per year to every poor Indian family, The manifesto also said that the party has decided to reserve one-half (50 per cent) of central government jobs for women starting in 2025 if they come in power. Congress also promised to double the number of working women hostels in the country.
While, BJP ‘Sankalp Patra’ aims to expand the current healthcare services with a focus on preventing and reducing anaemia, breast cancer, cervical cancer, and osteoporosis, thereby ensuring women lead healthier lives. Manifesto also mentioned launching a targeted campaign to eradicate cervical cancer. The party also promised to implement the Women’s Reservation Bill, guaranteeing representation for women in both the Parliament and State Legislatures.