Congress unveils Bengal manifesto, prioritises economy over doles

Kolkata, April 7 (IANS) Congress on Tuesday released its manifesto for the two-phase assembly elections in West Bengal later this month, giving priority to an alternative economic model to improve fiscal health, attract investment and generate employment over distributing doles under different schemes, which is the signature propaganda tool of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

After releasing the manifesto in Kolkata, Congress’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge explained why the party is giving priority to economic development over dole distribution promises.

“We want to offer new alternatives to the people of West Bengal. So our manifesto does not talk about the distribution of doles. It talks about rebuilding and reforming the state’s economy,” Kharge said.

He also launched scathing attacks against both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the ruling Trinamool Congress, putting both forces in the same bracket, although officially Trinamool Congress is still part of the Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance bloc.

“Earlier, if someone talked about industry, they talked about Kolkata. Now the youth from West Bengal are migrating to Maharashtra, Chennai, and Hyderabad. The situation in West Bengal is very bad. Young men and women are roaming around with degrees. 

“The government here has no plan. The Bharatiya Janata Party does not think about these things. They only create riots between Hindus and Muslims. So we have come up with a third option in West Bengal. 

“Pictures of corruption in the state administration have come to the forefront. Around Rs 50 crore was recovered from a state minister’s house. Now, West Bengal needs to be taken towards the rule of law,” Kharge said.

Echoing Kharge, veteran Congress leader and head of the party’s media cell Jairam Ramesh said that the people of West Bengal are saddled between the corruption of Trinamool Congress and the communally divisive politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and hence they need an alternative. 

“We in Congress can give them that alternative,” Ramesh said.

Congress, which had a seat-sharing arrangement with the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front since the 2016 West Bengal assembly polls, is contesting independently for all the 294 assembly constituencies in West Bengal.

--IANS

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