There are two ways to read the manifestos of the BJP and Congress. One could simply adopt a checklist method to catalogue the issues, promises and resolves. This interpretation is useful to find out what is pronounced as a considerable agenda and what is deliberately overlooked to maintain ambiguity and confusion.
For instance, economic growth and welfare packages for the concerned segments of society are highlighted by both parties to assert a positive, future-oriented agenda. Yet, controversial issues such as CAA and NRC are conveniently sidelined. Even the BJP, which has presented the CAA as an important political achievement, remains very careful in placing this issue as a future promise. The party manifesto says, “We have taken the historic step of enacting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and will implement it to confer citizenship to all eligible persons.” The Congress manifesto, similarly, does not touch upon the question of citizenship, and for that matter, CAA.
Using another possible mode to read these manifestos, one can evaluate these party documents as a valuable political source to understand the proposed outline for the future Indian state, instead of debating the listed items and omitted promises. For this purpose, we should revisit the three fundamental constitutional concerns — social justice, economic equality, and religious-cultural pluralism — to make sense of frequently used terms like Viksit Bharat 2047, Atmanirbhar Bharat, Nyay, and defending the Constitution.
The BJP’s Sankalp Patra (which is officially released as Modi ki Guarantee – 2024) revolves around the figure of the Prime Minister. Every poll promise is presented as Modi ki Guarantee simply to make it more personal and appealing. The Sankalp Patra has two main components — a report card on the performance of the government and a set of guarantees.
A close reading of this document makes it clear that the Modi government is committed to what I call the charitable state — a state that envisages welfarism as official generosity, while facilitating the open market economy as the driving force for infrastructure development. This charitable state model is invoked to justify popular schemes such as PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, PM Jan Dhan Account, Ayushman Bharat, PM Awas Yojana, and the Jal Jeevan Mission. These schemes are introduced to us not merely as achievements, but also as possible policy tools to address the substantial economic questions related to income inequalities and class-based disparity. That is why the Sankalp Patra lists programmes and policies separately for garib (poor) and middle-class families. This economic classification goes well with the basic premise of the charitable state. The welfare schemes are linked to economic distress, especially at the bottom level of society, while infrastructural development is proposed to satisfy the middle-classes.
The charitable state model is also used to accommodate conventional social justice categories — OBC, SC and ST. It is stridently argued that BJP is committed to social justice-based representation at every level. The manifesto highlights the fact that 60 per cent of ministers in the present government belong to OBC, SC and ST communities. It is proposed that the party will constitute “district level committees to ensure that welfare schemes reach the lowest level”. Adequate representation in this committee for SC, ST and OBC communities is also promised.
The Sankalp Patra, it seems, is very careful about the notion of religious-cultural pluralism. It talks about temple-centric schemes and plans, tribal heritage and even the concerns of linguistically inferior groups. Yet, there is nothing on religious minorities and India’s multi-religious culture and heritage. The famous slogan “Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas” is invoked to make a case for inclusivity in future Viksit Bharat. This inclusivity, however, is defined in a highly restricted manner.
The Congress party’s manifesto (Nyay Patra) seems to pose a serious challenge to the charitable state model. It underlines the three goals of Congress’s Nav Sankalp Economic Policy — work, wealth, and welfare. These three themes are invoked not merely to refute the programmes and policies introduced by the Narendra Modi regime but to offer a constructive resolve for the future.
Economic inequality is the central theme of the Nyay Patra. It says, “The people of India are divided in economic terms. There is a small class of the very rich, a substantial middle class, a large segment of people above the poverty line but not yet the middle class, and nearly 22 crore people who are poor.” This class division of Indian society is seen as one of the reasons behind economic inequalities and social injustice.
Reiterating the party’s commitment to an open economy, the manifesto makes a rather radical proposal. It says that economic growth should be driven by the private sector, which must be complemented by a “strong and viable public sector”. The private sector, in this schema, is not envisaged as a self-regulating economic entity. The Nyay Patra claims that Congress is opposed to monopolies and crony capitalism. The party will ensure that no company or individual is given undue economic advantage.
The inequality question is further expanded to propose a new framework for social justice. The Nyay Patra highlights the need for a nation-wide Socio-Economic and Caste Census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions for a meaningful policy of affirmative action. It further proposes that the party will raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC; and at the same time, the “EWS reservation will be implemented for all castes and communities”.
The Nyay Patra is particularly concerned about growing intolerance. It invokes pluralistic values and constitutional principles as its foundational commitments. It emphasises the need to accommodate all sections of Indian society, including religious and linguistic minorities, to reclaim unity in diversity in the real sense of the term. The relative backwardness and marginalisation of minorities are given adequate attention to establish a link between cultural pluralism and social justice. In other words, a new conception of the state is proposed, which does not want to deviate from the dominant economic consensus in favour of market-driven economic reforms. Yet, it is equally devoted to ensuring economic democracy and social justice.
It will be too early to predict the political outcomes of these manifestos. Nevertheless, an interesting battle of political ideas has already begun, which will shape the future trajectories of our democracy.
The writer is associate professor, CSDS, New Delhi
