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Asserting that the country is seeking a change, the Congress on Tuesday said the party's Lok Sabha election manifesto would focus on ensuring justice to people based on five "Nyay pillars" and claimed the BJP's 'guarantees' would meet the same fate as the 'India Shining' slogan of 2004.

 

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's top decision-making body, discussed the party's manifesto for Lok Sabha polls for over three hours and decided to reach out to every household with its five "Nyay" guarantees for the youth, women, workers, farmers and the marginalised sections.

 

Sources said the manifesto also includes the promise of implementing the old pension scheme (OPS) across the country and a law to ensure the independence of constitutional institutions and stop "misuse" of agencies.

 

"These five guarantees are going to be a game-changer in this election," party leader K C Venugopal said.

 

"The CWC has prepared a roadmap for taking the party's guarantees to the grassroots, highlighting the issues concerning the youth, poor, women, workers and farmers," he said and derided BJP's "guarantees" as "jumlas" (rhetoric) and a "bunch of lies".

 

In his address at the meeting, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge asserted whatever has been promised in the manifesto, will be strictly implemented.

 

Before making promises in the manifesto, an in-depth deliberation has been made to ensure that these promises are implementable, he said.

 

Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh said the CWC has authorised Kharge to give final approval to the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls and decide a date for its release.

 

Venugopal said the Congress party is fully prepared for Lok Sabha polls and will launch a massive campaign "to take its guarantees to every household across the country in the next few days".

 

He said the CWC also unanimously appreciated Rahul Gandhi for undertaking the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra during which he raised key issues concerning the people.

 

Ramesh said the Congress will release not just a 'ghoshna patra' (manifesto) but a 'nyay patra' ensuring justice for all sections so that people see a bright future in the country.

 

Earlier addressing the CWC meeting, Kharge urged all party leaders and workers to take every issue raised in the party manifesto to every village and town and every household across the country.

 

"The country is fervently demanding a change. The guarantees currently being touted by the present government would have the same fate as that of the 'India Shining' slogan of 2004," he said in his address.

 

The BJP-led NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee had given the 'India Shining' slogan during the 2004 Lok Sabha election and had suffered a defeat.

 

"It is because of this very fact that, right from 1926, the Congress party's manifesto has been regarded as a 'document of trust and commitment'," he said.

 

He said all Congress leaders have a responsibility to ensure that the manifesto gets the widest publicity in different states.

 

Kharge also lauded the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, saying through it the Congress was able to draw the country's attention to the real issue of people.

 

"These were not just political yatras but will be noted for the largest mass contact movement in our political history. One can't undermine the fact that nobody in our times has undertaken such a massive exercise.

 

"Both these yatras managed to take the issue of the people to national centre stage," he said referring to the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the just concluded Nyay Yatra.

 

Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi attended the meeting. Other senior leaders, including Ambika Soni, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, P Chidambaram, Digvijaya Singh, Ajay Maken and Kumari Selja, were also present at the crucial meeting, where Chidambaram read out the key elements of the draft party manifesto.

 

Chidambaram chairs the manifesto committee of the party, which has already presented a copy of the draft document to the CWC for its nod.

 

The party is fighting the elections on the issue of 'five nyay' (justices) -- 'Bhagidari Nyay', 'Kisan Nyay', 'Nari Nyay', 'Shramik Nyay' and 'Yuva Nyay' -- giving 25 guarantees, five under each category, that have been announced by the Congress president and Rahul Gandhi

 

Asked about Modi's guarantees, Venugopal said, "It was the Congress which started giving guarantees, first in Karnataka, and now he (PM) is following us".

 

"In a democracy, it is the people who are masters and they are going to decide whom to support. Modi's guarantees are all jumlas and lies and nothing else," he said, citing "promises like Rs 15 lakh, bringing back black money from abroad and 2 crore jobs every year".

 

Ramesh said the Congress guarantees are not "one person's guarantees but that of the Congress party"