A video showing a man allegedly reading out the Congress manifesto is being widely shared across social media platforms (here, here, & here). The claim accompanying the post suggests that the Congress party, in their 2024 Lok Sabha election manifesto, has stated that if they form the government, they will restore Article 370, repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the New Education Policy (NEP), anti-conversion laws, the National Security Act (NSA), and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Additionally, they will abolish the death penalty, exit from QUAD and I2U2, and eliminate all nuclear weapons from the country. In this article, let’s fact-check the claims made in the post.
Claim: The 2024 Congress manifesto states that if they form the government, they will restore Article 370, repeal the CAA, the New Education Policy, anti-conversion laws, the NSA, and the UAPA, they will remove the death penalty, withdraw from QUAD and I2U2, and eliminate all nuclear weapons from the country.
Fact: The Congress manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections does not mention the repeal of the CAA, anti-conversion laws, the NSA, or the UAPA. However, senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister Chidambaram stated that they will repeal the CAA once the I.N.D.I.A bloc comes to power, even though it is not explicitly mentioned in its manifesto. The Congress manifesto also does not mention the removal of the death penalty or the elimination of nuclear weapons from India. The Congress party stated that they will amend the new education policy after consultation with the states. While the Congress party stated that they will restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, it does not explicitly mention its plans to restore Article 370. Notably, all the claims mentioned in the viral post are from the CPI(M)’s 2024 Lok Sabha elections manifesto. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
To verify the accuracy of viral claims, we visited the official website of the Indian National Congress and examined the Congress manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Restore article 370:
The Congress manifesto does not explicitly mention its plans to restore Article 370, which provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir. It does pledge to immediately restore the statehood of the Jammu and Kashmir region.
Repeal of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA):
The Congress manifesto didn’t mention the scrapping of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). However, in April 2024, following the release of the Congress manifesto, former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram stated that the party intends to repeal the CAA once the I.N.D.I.A Bloc comes to power. Chidambaram emphasized Congress party’s intention to repeal the CAA, even though it is not explicitly mentioned in its manifesto.
Repeal of the anti-conversion law:
Article 25 of the Indian Constitution guarantees the freedom of individuals to practice, profess, and propagate any religion. The Congress manifesto emphasizes the importance of respecting and upholding fundamental rights, including the rights of religious minorities as enshrined in Articles 15, 16, 25, 26, 28, 29, and 30. However, the Congress 2024 manifesto does not explicitly mention the scrapping of anti-conversion laws.
Repeal of the New Education Policy:
The Congress manifesto acknowledges concerns raised by educationists and state governments regarding the NEP and commits to revisiting and amending it in consultation with the states. However, it does not explicitly mention the revocation of the New Education Policy introduced by BJP/NDA government.
Repeal of the NSA, and the UAPA:
The Congress manifesto does not state that Congress will repeal the National Security Act (NSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) upon forming the government.
However, the Congress party addressed national security in their manifesto for 2024 Lok Sabha elections, focusing on various governance and security aspects such as the National Security Strategy, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Defence Expenditure, Women in Armed Forces, National Security Council (NSC) Oversight, Expanded Notions of Security, and National Economic Security Board. However, it also promises to scrap the Angipath scheme and return to the normal recruitment processes that existed before.
Removal of the death penalty:
The Congress manifesto does not mention the removal of the death penalty anywhere. However, the Congress party addressed several issues regarding the judiciary in their manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. They focused on various aspects such as filling all vacancies in the High Courts and Supreme Court within a period of three years, amending the constitution to create two divisions of the Supreme Court – a Constitutional Court and a Court of Appeal, allocating sufficient funds for enhancing the physical and technical infrastructure of the judiciary and for modernizing and maintaining the infrastructure. Additionally, they pledged to appoint more women and individuals from SC, ST, OBC, and minorities as judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court. Furthermore, the Congress party committed to establishing a Judicial Complaints Commission to investigate complaints of misconduct against judges of the higher judiciary.
India to exit from QUAD, 12U2:
The Congress manifesto addressed several issues regarding Indian foreign policy, such as significantly increasing the size of the Indian Foreign Service, opening more missions abroad, leveraging our economic strengths, and acquiring a position of leadership through the country’s values and mutually beneficial economic relationships. It also proposed reviving the position of a Minister of State handling overseas Indians within the External Affairs Ministry to provide this important constituency with a one-stop window to address their concerns. However, it does not mention India’s exit from QUAD and I2U2.
Eliminating nuclear weapons from India:
The Congress manifesto addressed several issues regarding national security, defence, and internal security. However, there is no mention of eliminating nuclear weapons in the Congress manifesto.
Notably, all the claims mentioned in the viral post are some of the points from the Communist Party Of India (Marxist) CPI(M)‘s 2024 Lok Sabha elections manifesto.
To sum up, this video doesn’t talk about the Congress manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it instead discusses the CPI(M) manifesto.
