Congress Wins Race of Manifestos

HYDERABAD: “We have not yet announced a single candidate but have given out our six major guarantees to the people of Telangana,” said Congress state PCC president A. Revanth Reddy recently. “In contrast, the BRS has announced all its candidates but not its manifesto or major promise. It is clear our top priority is to serve people, which is why we focussed on what we will do for people. BRS wants power and to use it for their personal gains, hence focus on candidates. The BJP, with neither candidates nor a manifesto, clearly is not in the race at all.”

The war for control over the next Telangana state Assembly would be fought on several fronts, but the Congress has, clearly, won the battle on the manifesto declaration part.

“For too long, people have stopped looking at manifestos of political parties because they don’t trust them. Congress has changed this narrative and is winning back the trust of people with their promises. It began with the successes in 2018 Assembly elections, and earlier this year in Himachal and Karnataka. The BRS and BJP may fight with money, but we are focussed only on what we can and will deliver,” said a senior Congress leader, who was part of the ideation on guarantees for Telangana.

In the past too, it was crucial promises of welfare and development that set the agenda for the polls — with BRS chief K. Chandrashekar Rao famously summarising the hope of people with the slogan ‘Neellu, nidhulu, niyamakalu (water, financial resources and jobs)’. The BRS manifesto had become the motto and motivation for the Telangana statehood agitation and brought the party to power.

“The life changing promises of the BRS were about 2-bedroom houses, free education from kindergarten to post-graduation (KG to PG), three acres of land for Dalits and money in lieu of failure to deliver land or 2BHKs, and government jobs, which have, by and large, raised huge hopes but largely met with disappointment,” the Congress leader observed.

In making the six guarantees, which were unveiled by Sonia Gandhi at the party’s Vijayabheri meeting, the party looked at the aspirations and hopes of the people of Telangana and the failures of the BRS, the Congress leader said. “They address every single section of society, and have been declared after much thought and can and will definitely be implemented,” the leader said.

The BRS and BJP hit back saying the Congress promises were unrealistic and could not be implemented owing to the resources required. But subsequently, the BRS, realising the high aspirations of the people and the shifting mood, has decided to re-focus on its own set of promises at a time when anti-incumbency is playing a crucial role, in coming out with a winning manifesto.

“Once the BRS manifesto is out, the Opposition’s mind will get blown away,” said BRS leader and minister T. Harish Rao. “The BRS manifesto will be one of the best ever, and will change the lives of everybody.”

The BJP, on its part, said the party continues to be against freebies and would focus on good governance and the contributions made by the Centre for the development of Telangana.

“We won’t join the freebies race. We will back the agenda set by PM Narendra Modi, of exposing the failures of the BRS government and the corruption of family-run parties,” a state BJP leader said.

But interestingly, how significant are the key promises in deciding an election is a question no one can have definite answers to. But in Telangana, they do matter a lot.