Congress releases 2019 LS Election Manifesto

The Congress released its crowd-sourced manifesto, entitled 'India's New Tryst With Destiny' for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, 2 April. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi released the manifesto, along with party president Rahul Gandhi.

The manifesto was released in the presence of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other party leaders.

Addressing the party workers and media, Rahul Gandhi said that the process of preparing the manifesto began a year ago, and that he did not want a "single lie" in it.
The party invoked former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's iconic speech, delivered on the dawn of India's Independence – 'India's tryst with destiny' – in their new manifesto.

Gandhi suggested that he got the idea for NYAY – minimum income scheme from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise that he would put Rs 15 lakh in every poor person's bank account.

Gandhi said that they had "big plans" for farmers and that there will be a separate budget for them.

Speaking at the event, P. Chidambaram, who chaired the Congress Manifesto Committee, said the manifesto "addresses the interests of farmers, industry, Dalits, minorities, workers, women".

According to a PTI report, Gandhi said the manifesto had a "strategic plan" for "huge scale" job creation, and a roadmap for the transformation of the agriculture sector, besides ways to boost small businesses and the economy at large.