In line with its persistent attack on the Narendra Modi government over the alleged violation of the spirit of the Constitution through several legal changes and the diminishing of the autonomy of the Constitutional institutions, the Congress has in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections pledged to review all the “anti-people” laws that have been passed in the last ten years.
“In the last ten years tremendous damage was done by the BJP/NDA by misusing the brute majority enjoyed by it in Parliament to make laws that violated the letter and spirit of the Constitution of India as well as the fundamental principles of law-making, namely, necessity, consultation, reasonableness and proportionality,” says the manifesto released on Friday.
The Congress has accused the Modi government of diminishing the principles of the Constitution, and the manifesto has a chapter dedicated to the theme. It is titled, 'Defending The Constitution', and it comprises a host of issues such as restoring freedom of speech, which includes full freedom of the media, de-criminalising the office of defamation, end to the arbitrary and indiscriminate suspension of the Internet, review of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and removing the provisions that restrict freedom of speech and expression and that violate the right to privacy, reviewing laws that interfere with the right to privacy, and non-interference with personal choices of food and dress, to love and marry, to travel and reside in any part of India.
It says all “anti-people laws passed by the BJP/NDA without proper parliamentary scrutiny and debate, especially those relating to workers, farmers, criminal justice, environment and forests and digital data protection, will be thoroughly reviewed and changed.”
In the backdrop of the recent scrapping of the Electoral Bonds scheme by the Supreme Court and the revelations that have been made with regard to the donors and the donations received by the parties, the Congress' manifesto pledges to carry out a complete investigation of the “Electoral Bonds Scam”. It also promises probes into the “reckless sale of public assets, the PM CARES scam, repeated intelligence failures at the highest levels and corruption in major defence deals.”
The party, which has accused the Modi government of undermining the importance of Parliament and not allowing the opposition to have its say on the floor of the house, states in its manifesto that it will ensure that the two Houses of Parliament will each meet for 100 days in a year and “the great traditions of Parliament that prevailed in the past will be revived and scrupulously observed.”
The manifesto rejects the 'one nation, one election' idea. It promises to strengthen the autonomy of the Election Commission, the Central Information Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Commissions for SC, ST, Minorities and OBC, and other constitutional bodies. It also promises to restore the Planning Commission.
With regard to the issue of whether the EVM can be trusted, it says it will amend the election laws to combine the efficiency of the EVM and the transparency of the ballot paper.
Also, in the backdrop of several of its leaders having switched over to the BJP, the Congress promises in its manifesto that it will amend the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and make defection an automatic disqualification of membership in the Assembly or Parliament.
In the wake of the alleged misuse by the government of the investigating agencies, the Congress' manifesto states that the party will ensure that the police, investigation and intelligence agencies will function strictly in accordance with law. It says they will be brought under the oversight of Parliament or the state legislatures.
“We promise to put an end to the weaponisation of laws, arbitrary searches, seizures and attachments, arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests, third-degree methods, prolonged custody, custodial deaths, and bulldozer justice,” the manifesto says.
In view of the alleged misuse of the stringent bail provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to target opposition leaders, the Congress manifesto promises a law on bail that will incorporate the principle that “bail is the rule, jail is the exception”
