Citizens’ manifesto unveiled by civil society groups ignored by most political parties
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is delaying the release of its manifesto because it is studying manifestos of other parties and civil society groups to include best practices and ideas, said Sanjay Paswan, senior leader of the party during the unveiling of citizens’ manifesto at India Habitat Centre in Delhi on March 27. Paswan claimed that BJP manifesto would deal with governance imbalance and accommodate aspirations of every section of the society.
The citizens’ manifesto was released by Wada Na Todo Abhiyaan (WNTA), a network of 4,000 civil society groups.
Ahead of the general elections as political parties put together their agendas and promises, the WNTA manifesto aims to make political parties accountable for ending poverty, social exclusion and discrimination. “We requested all political parties to include the 17-point demand in their manifestos. This includes governance and health- and education-related issues. But our demands were half-heartedly accommodated by Congress party,” says Amitabh Behar, national convener of WNTA.
“They have talked about education but are silent on the quality of education; they have talked about food security but do not promise nutritional security; they have mentioned agriculture but show no commitment to organic farming,” says Behar.
Only the Left parties, both CPI and CPI(M), have accommodated almost all our demands,” Behar adds.
Dinesh Varshney of CPI and NeelotpalBasu of CPI-M were present at the occasion.
Indian National Congress: manifesto for the Lok Sabha Elections, 2014 (Your voice, our pledge)
Communist Party of India (Marxist): manifesto for the 16th Lok Sabha Elections, 2014
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