“Before dealing with the Election Manifestoes of the various political parties, it will be useful if their ideological basis is analysed in general terms. That alone would enable us to read between the lines and correctly appraise the programmes and promises outlined in the manifestoes. The same words and phrases used by different parties may not mean the same thing. To the common man a zero simply denotes nothingness, but not so to the mathematician. The missing links can also be found out on the basis of the past performance and doctrinaire outlook of the parties, for the election manifestoes of most of the parties miserably lack details”– Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya,“Your Vote – III, Changers and No-Changers”, Organiser Weekly, December 19, 1961
As the election campaign is in full flow and the first two rounds of voting are taking place in the coming weeks, there was expected to be a deeper analysis of election manifestoes offered to the electorates by various political parties, their ideological basis and viability in the comparative terms. Though political leaders are making rhetoric around the claims and promises made by their respective parties in the manifestoes, there is no serious debate, discussion or comparison in the media and intellectual space, barring reporting about the manifesto releases. How should we see these manifestoes in the changed circumstances when the Modi-led BJP is the centre of the polity, ideology is less relevant for the opposition, and Modi-Hatao is the only agenda?
Though the opposition tried to make the Lok Sabha election 2024 a battle between the BJP and all, when it comes to their manifestoes and poll planks, the I.N.D.I. Alliance is a divided house. Kerala is the most significant case study, where Congress and Communist parties question each other in their campaigns. Therefore, it is better to analyse them separately while taking the BJP and Congress manifestoes as the reference points.
If one tried to analyse the manifestoes of the two national political parties, then there is a striking point that many should have observed. The 2024 Election Manifesto is the first time after the BJP came into existence after its earlier avatar of Bharatiya Jan Sangh that the agenda of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, and the removal of Article 370 in Jammu-Kashmir is missing, not because the BJP has given up on the same but already delivered in the last five years. On the contrary, though Congress continues with the old sloganeering of poverty alleviation and minority rights, the terms socialism and secularism are conspicuously missing from the manifesto, a sign of ideological confusion. Congress keeps accusing BJP of changing the Constitution, though the party’s track record gives a different picture. Even with a simple keyword search in the current manifestoes of both parties, the word amendment is mentioned 23 times in the Congress manifesto. In contrast, the BJP manifesto uses it only twice in the context of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The promises made by Congress would need a more significant Constitutional change than the ideas proposed by the BJP.
The delivery is the most significant differentiating factor between the two major political groupings. In the initial part of the manifesto, BJP proudly talks about delivering on the 2019 promises, ranging from national security and zero-tolerance of terrorism to toilets, water connectivity, Make in India, accessible healthcare, cleanliness drive, etc. Congress still relies on distant past achievements, like claiming sole credit for the country’s Independence. After being in a governance position for around six decades, why does Congress still rely on freebies and minority appeasement as the poll plank? Naturally, the Sankalp Patra with Modi Ki Guarantee definitely finds more credibility than Nyay Patra with Haath Badlega Halath. The worst part is that Congress’s manifesto does not clarify the financial viability of the lofty guarantees they have assured. BJP, on the other hand, is building on Modi’s credibility and what was already initiated in the last two terms.
Nothing much can be expected from the Communist Parties with a jargonised manifesto with the usual rant of saving secularism and democracy while encouraging radicalism and murderous reigns. Their manifestoes should be discussed to expose their double standards and contradictions. After showing the failed model of communism in the last existing State of Kerala and making it a hub of forced migration, they are talking about unemployment and fiscal prudence, which is a good enough reference point.
Regional parties like DMK, TMC, and SP are toeing a different line on specific issues to show their separate existence. However, Modi Hatao and reversing the BJP’s decisions from Article 370 to CAA are their central poll planks, which makes them tactical allies of Congress. Their rhetoric of federalism is nothing short of encouraging separatism and disrespecting Constitutional values.
In a democracy, electorates must form an informed opinion before voting. They must be aware of the ideological framework, the programmes based on it, and who will deliver it with which mechanism. This edition of Organiser continues the refinement of the Public Opinion tradition that Pt Deendayal Ji initiated.
