The Congress Working Committee (CWC), which met in Belagavi, Karnataka, on Thursday, urged the NDA regime to use its upcoming budget to provide income support to the poor and tax relief to middle classes.
The CWC’s extended session, held in Belagavi to mark the centenary of the party’s session chaired by Mahatma Gandhi at the same place, adopted two resolutions. While one was on Gandhi, the other was on a range of pressing political issues.
The CWC, chaired by AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge and attended by Rahul Gandhi, noted that the GST had become an absurdity. “The CWC reiterates its demand for a GST 2.0 that will be a truly good and simple tax — both on paper and in practice.” The party noted with concern what it called tax terrorism on industry, trade and commerce while calling for effort to end the tax terrorism.
The Mod regime’s economic policies, the resolution said, were designed to enrich only a few of the PM’s favourite business groups. “Oligopolies in the economy are growing. While more and more Indians have a stake in capital markets, the integrity of regulators has been called into serious question. Private investment, which must drive faster economic growth, is still extremely sluggish and mass consumption is stagnating.”
The working committee resolution demanded a socio-economic caste census at the earliest. The 50% ceiling on reservations for SC/STs and OBCs must be increased to further enhance the benefits accrued to the three traditionally disadvantaged groups in the society. Reservations must be based on social, economic or educational backwardness determined through appropriate means, the resolution said.
The party also demanded a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) and its fixation at 50% of the comprehensive cost of cultivation. The party sought adequate funding for the MGNREGA programme along with an increase in its wage to Rs 400 per day.
The Congress has decided to launch a year-long nationwide public outreach campaign called the Samvidhan Bachao Rashtriya Padyatra from January 26,2025 to January 26, 2026. The party would hold its forthcoming session in Gujarat in April 2025.
