Karnataka election: Congress releases poll manifesto, promises to ban Bajrang Dal, radical Islamist outfit PFI
Bengaluru/IBNS/UNI: The Congress poll manifesto, which was released on Tuesday ahead of the Karnataka elections, promises to ban Bajrang Dal and the radical Islamist outfit Popular Front of India, arguing that these organisations promote enmity or hatred, among the majority or minority communities.
"The Congress Party is committed to taking firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations spreading hatred amongst communities on grounds of caste or religion.
"We believe that law and Constitution are sacrosanct and cannot be violated by individuals and Organisations like Bajrang Dal, PFI or others promoting enmity or hatred, whether among majority or minority communities," the manifesto says.
The manifesto says if the party is voted to power in the state, it will take decisive action as per law including imposing a ban on them.
The party also promised to repeal, within 1 year of coming to power, "all unjust laws and other anti-people laws" passed by the BJP government in the state.
The manifesto also included the five guarantees spelled out during the poll campaigns led by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The enlisted guarantees are Gruha Jyothi (which promises 200 units of free electricity to all), Gruha Lakshmi (Rs 2,000 monthly to every woman head of the family), Anna Bhagya (10 kg of food grains of their choice - among rice, ragi, jowar, millet - to every person in a BPL family).
The Congress party vowed to increase the ceiling of reservation from 50 percent to 75 percent in order to accommodate the hopes and aspirations of SC/ST/OBC/minority and other communities such as Lingayats and Vokkaligas.
The party said it is committed to increasing reservations for SCs from 15 to 17 percent and STs from three to seven percent, and restore minority reservations of 4 percent, and increasing reservations for Lingayats, Vokkaligas, and other communities.
AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge said that all the promises will be implemented in the first cabinet meeting on the first day of government formation.