"Country wants change" says Congress chief Kharge as CWC deliberates manifesto

New Delhi: The Congress working committee, met on Tuesday and 'deliberated' thoroughly on the party's manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, dates for which were announced on Saturday.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other congress leaders were present at the meeting.
The meeting was held at AICC headquarters in Delhi.
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who headed the manifesto committee, said earlier the draft report will be presented to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and will be discussed by the Congress Working Committee.
Welcoming the members, Kharge said a committee had been set up under the chairmanship of Chidambaram Ji to prepare the draft Manifesto.
The Committee successfully ensured public participation in this exercise, rather than merely confining it to an academic one. It held extensive consultations in different parts of the country and submitted a draft to me on March 6th, 2024, Kharge said.
He said that suggestions and comments were also solicited through an online website which was rightly called "Awaaz Bharat Ki".
"Whatever has been promised in Manifesto, will be strictly implemented. Before making promises in the Manifesto, in-depth deliberation has been made to ensure that these promises are implementable," he said.
He said 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".
Kharge recalled after independence, the Congress party's first manifesto was released under the leadership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru which was famously called "What Congress stands for".
Speaking on the recently concluded Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, he said, "Mumbai is an important place for us because our party was formed here. The freedom movement got its final fillip with the Quit India movement in 1942".
"These were not just political Yatras but will be noted as 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 the national centre stage," Kharge said.
"During the Yatra, both me and Rahul Ji addressed several public rallies in which we spoke of our guarantees and commitments under the Five pillars of the Yatra - Kisan Nyay, Yuva Nyay, Naari Nyay, Shramik Nyay and Hissedari nyay," he said.
The Congress leader said that over the last two months, a total of 25 Guarantees - 5 guarantees each for the 5 Nyays were announced.
Hailing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi he said, "Rahul Ji has done his maximum through the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra as far as these guarantees are concerned. But in the coming days, we must spell out what our priorities, policies and programmes are going to be for the next 5 years"
"I am sure by now you would have all been made aware of these promises. Most of them are derived from the draft Manifesto itself," he said while addressing the CWC members.
I will request Chidambaram Ji to give us a detailed overview of the draft Manifesto, he said.
"After his presentation, we would have a brief discussion amongst ourselves. We will finalise the Manifesto based on your comments and thereafter, have it released. I would also request Rahul Ji to make his intervention during the discussion," the Congress chief said.
" 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.
"All of us have a responsibility to ensure that our Manifesto gets the widest publicity in different states and that our commitment is taken to every household across the country and people at large," the Congress chief said.
In a post on X, Kharge said, " The Congress Working Committee (CWC) deliberated thoroughly on the Congress Manifesto, today."
His post added, "The country is fervently demanding a change". Lok sabha Elections 2024 would be held in seven phases starting on April 19 and ending on June 1. The results will be declared on June 4.