Bihar Polls: Congress releases manifesto; promises Rs 1500 a month to unemployed youth, rejection of farm laws

The Congress party – which is part of the Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance – released its manifesto for the upcoming Assembly election in Bihar on Wednesday.

Apart from promising Rs 1500 to unemployed youths every month, the party said that it will, like Punjab, pass a separate farm law in Bihar assembly if voted to power.

Carrying forward the idea of NYAY – a direct cash transfer scheme envisaged during the Lok Sabha polls 2019 – the party said that it will provide Rs 800 as honorary pension for the elderly and women in the state, and Rs 1000 for those above 80 years of age.

Referred to as the ‘Badlav Patra’, the Congress’ manifesto promises waiver of electricity bills and an increase in irrigation facilities also.

“Our ‘Badlav Patra’ talks about loan waiver, electricity bill waiver and increasing irrigation facilities for farmers. If our government comes to power in Bihar, we'll reject NDA govt's farm laws by bringing separate state farm bills as we did in Punjab,” said Shaktisinh Gohil during the release of the manifesto.

The party is contesting polls in 70 seats in alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) under the leadership of Tejasvi Yadav.

In the 2015 assembly election, Congress had contested 41 Assembly seats when the Mahagathbandhan included the JD (U) and won 27. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls though, the Congress had won just one seat, the Muslim-dominated Kishanganj.

This year, however, Congress has given preference to youths – with the average age of the candidates being 47.5 years. As many as 39 of the 70 candidates are below 50 years of age.

The party, which could not win more than 30 seats since 1995 in Bihar, is trying hard to revive its political fortune this time. It has fielded seven women candidates, and 12 Muslim nominees.

Its Muslim faces include Mashkoor Ahmad Usmani, former president of the Aligarh Muslim University Student’s Union, who has been fielded from the Jale seat in Dharbhanga district.

The party has fielded nine candidates who come from the OBC category, 14 from SC category and two who belong to Extremely Backward Classes.