Senior leaders of India’s main opposition Congress Party Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, along with Mallikarjun Kharge, President of the Congress Party, display the party’s manifesto for the general election in New Delhi, India, April 5, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
By Shivangi Acharya
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s opposition Congress party promised on Friday to lift a cap on affirmative action for marginalised castes if it wins power, although Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to sweep back into office in elections starting this month.
Congress, which had ruled India for more than 50 years with centre-left policies, has struggled in the past decade to compete with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that counts the country’s Hindu majority as its main vote base.
The seven-phase election starts on April 19, with vote counting on June 4.
More help for so-called backward castes and the poor irrespective of caste were among Congress pledges in its election manifesto, including assured jobs for the young, guaranteed prices for farm produce and higher health insurance payouts.
“Congress has been the most vocal and active champion of the progress of the backward and oppressed classes and castes over the last seven decades,” said the manifesto released by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, who himself is from one of India’s most backward castes.
“However, caste discrimination is still a reality.”
Kharge listed some of the key pledges with only a feeble response from party workers at a press conference, leading him to comment: “No claps, nothing!”
Many analysts say morale is low in Congress because of the BJP’s dominance of the country’s politics. An opinion poll released on Wednesday predicted Modi’s National Democratic Alliance coalition could win 399 of the 543 seats in the lower house of parliament while the BJP alone is projected to win 342.
Congress could fall to 38 seats, a record low, it said.
Addressing a rally, BJP chief Jagat Prakash Nadda accused Congress of trying to divide communities in the name of caste and religion, adding that Modi instead worked on taking everyone along for the development of all.
“CLOSE ELECTION”
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said the election is “much closer than being propagated”.
“It’s a close election and we are going to fight an excellent election and we are going to win the election,” he said at the event.
Should it be voted back to power, Congress said it would conduct a socio-economic and caste census to “strengthen the agenda for affirmative action”, guaranteeing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50% cap on reservations for backward castes in government jobs and education.
The party said such groups make up nearly 70% of India’s 1.42 billion people but “their representation in high-ranking professions, services and businesses is disproportionately low”.
The caste system has set out hierarchies in the Hindu religion for thousands of years, but it has been countered by affirmative action policies in recent decades albeit with uneven effect.
Average monthly spending by marginalised castes from so-called scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and other backward classes lagged privileged castes by 27% in rural and 30% in urban India in 2022/23, according to a government survey released last month.
That spending gap has narrowed over the last decade but much more slowly in India’s distressed countryside where a majority of the population lives, according to a comparison with data from a similar 2011/12 survey.
A caste-based census last year by India’s poorest and populous state, Bihar, underlined the skewed representation of marginalised castes in government jobs.
Its minority so-called upper castes hold nearly a third of valued government jobs, while 95% of the people are either self-employed or unemployed, according to the survey seen by Reuters.
Moreover, 88% of all poor families in Bihar, described as those earning up to $72 a month, are from marginalised castes.
The BJP has dismissed such surveys. Modi has said in rallies that India’s downtrodden castes are the poor, youth, women and farmers, and that he was working tirelessly for them.
(Writing by Shivangi Acharya and Krishna N. Das; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Toby Chopra)
News Related
-
Anyone who’s purchased gift baskets to hand out to loved ones this holiday season might need to find a backup present after the latest food recall that involves festive cookies. Gift basket company Wine Country Gift Baskets just announced that it is voluntarily recalling all gift baskets that feature Acorn Baking ...
See Details:
Recall Just Announced For Popular Cookies Featured In Holiday Gift Baskets
-
LOS ANGELES: Quarterback Jalen Hurts ran in an overtime touchdown to give the Philadelphia Eagles a 37-34 NFL win over the Buffalo Bills Sunday (Monday in Manila) and move them to 10-1 on the season. The Eagles, who lost the Super Bowl to Kansas City last season, trailed at half-time ...
See Details:
Eagles rally past Bills in overtime as Chiefs win
-
Yen Makabenta First word WHILE UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other promoters of the climate emergency are preparing to convene the 28th conference of the parties (COP28) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the United Arab Emirates, starting on November 30 and stretching to December 12, ...
See Details:
Reality bites the green energy agenda
-
Sandigan orders Marcos Sr. pal to pay workers The Sandiganbayan has ordered the enforcement of a July 2023 ruling ordering a Marcos Sr. associate to pay a lumber company’s workers P2.1 million in damages as well as return 60 percent of their company’s shares and pay all unpaid benefits. The ...
See Details:
Sandigan orders Marcos Sr. pal to pay workers
-
DSWD: Shear line, LPA affect 1.2 million people; over 18,000 families evacuated MANILA, Philippines – More than 18,000 families have fled to evacuation centers across flood-affected regions in the country due to the impact of the shear line and low pressure area. Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) gave ...
See Details:
DSWD: Shear line, LPA affect 1.2 million people; over 18,000 families evacuated
-
-
MANILA, Philippines: The entire Luzon, including Metro Manila, is expected to experience isolated rain showers and thunderstorms as the northeast monsoon (“amihan”) and easterlies will be affecting the country over the next 24 hours, the state-run weather agency said on Tuesday. Weather specialist Patrick del Mundo of the Philippine Atmospheric ...
See Details:
Rain showers, thunderstorms over Luzon, including Metro Manila — Pagasa
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
'Naruto' live-action film adaptation is in the works
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
NASA Highlights Stingray Nebula
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Manila's Lagusnilad underpass opens
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
China probes debt-ridden financial giant
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
China's VUCA situation
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Unraveling the mystery that is diabetes
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Bangladesh's nuke plant is not going to steal PH investments
OTHER NEWS
ALIW Awards Foundation Inc. President Alice H. Reyes has released the names of finalists for the 2023 Aliw Awards to be presented on Dec. 11, 2023, at the Manila Hotel ...
Read more »
WhatsApp Web gains the feature of single-view photos and videos (Photo: Unsplash) The WhatsApp Web, the desktop version of the popular messaging app from Meta, has received an update allowing ...
Read more »
Young athletes’ time to shine in Siklab Awards MANILA, Philippines — The future heroes of Philippine sports will be honored during the third Siklab Youth Sports Awards on Dec. 4 ...
Read more »
Graphics by Jannielyn Ann Bigtas A local government official said Monday that five to 10 barangays in Northern Samar are still isolated following the massive flooding in the area last ...
Read more »
DyipPay app lets you pay jeepney fare, book tricycles “Barya lang po sa umaga.” Everyone who rides jeepneys knows this rule: it may not be an actual law, but it’s ...
Read more »
Updated In-Season Tournament Bracket ahead of pool play finale Tuesday will mark the last day of pool play for the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. From there, six first-place teams and ...
Read more »
PCG forms teams for maritime emergency response MANILA, Philippines — Recent incidents of fishermen lost in the waters off Southern Tagalog have prompted the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to form ...
Read more »