If people are not taking seriously the promises that the Congress has made in its 2014 election manifesto, it is because they have watched with dismay how the party has mismanaged the affairs of the country in the last 10 years

The Congress’s manifesto is a document of deceit, another fraud committed on the people, and it has no credibility. It is designed to fool people with false promises and fraudulent means, but people are wise enough. It is evident that the Congress is clearly exhausted and bereft of new ideas after two terms in Government. The 2014 manifesto is a reflection of that. It is only a repackaged version of old and failed ideas. Many of the promises of 2014 are the failed ones of 2009. The manifesto is full of claims that are impossible to achieve, like the one to accelerate growth rate from the present four per cent to eight per cent. On the contrary, it is the Congress-led UPA that has brought it down from 8.5 per cent to 4.6 percent in the last 10 years.

The Congress president says that 90 per cent of what was promised in 2009 has already been implemented. If that were really the case, the Congress would not be where it is today. Forget about 90 per cent, not even 10 per cent of the promises made were fulfilled. What can be farther from truth than this claimIJ It’s an absolute betrayal of the promises made. Congressmen, do you remember the promises made in 2009, and the ones made in 2004IJ

 Will set up a number of commissions, including the Administrative Reforms Commission, the National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, the National Farmers Commission, the National Knowledge Commission and the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. What happened to themIJ

 Will accelerate the process of police reforms. What happenedIJ

 Will set up subsidised community kitchens in all cities for homeless people and migrants with the support of the Union Government. Where are these kitchensIJ

 Will ensure a comprehensive cover of social security to all persons who are at special risk, including single-woman headed households; disabled and the elderly; urban homeless; released bonded workers; members of primitive tribal groups; and members of designated ‘most backward’ Dalit communities. Where are these social securitiesIJ

 Will set up one model school in every block of the country. Every year, over the next five years, we will add one more model school in every block. Where are those schoolsIJ

 Will ensure minimum support price and procurement at the doorsteps of the farmers. What happened to the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendationsIJ Eight years have gone by, and there is no action yet.

 Will eliminate controls on the free movement of farm commodities and processing of agricultural products and all regulations that depress incomes of farmers. No action!

 Will establish an Equal Opportunity Commission by law. What happenedIJThe Sachar committe review panel says that “no special efforts (weere made) by the Centre in addressing concerns of the minority districts”.

 Will ensure that the Bill for reserving 33 per cent of the seats in the lok Sabha and the State legislatures is passed in the 15th lok Sabha and that the election to the 16th lok Sabha is held on the basis of one-third reservation for women. What happened to thatIJ

 The Congress will endeavour to ensure that at least half of the country’s rural women population will be enrolled as members of self-help groups linked with banks and that they will get loans from banks at moderate interest rates. There has been no progress; forget 50 per cent of the population, not even 10 per cent is in the self-help groups.

 Will introduce special incentives for the girl child to correct the adverse sex ratio and to ensure education of girl children. There has been no progress.

 Will upgrade the technical capabilities of panchayati raj institutions. No headway has been made.

 We pledge to connect every village to a broadband network within three years. There has been no progress.

 We promise social security to all, quality education to all, quality health to all. Nothing has been implemented.

 We promise a targeted cluster-based approach to the growth of small and medium enterprises. There has been no action here.

 Will design and launch a voluntary national youth corps which would enable young men and women in the age group of 18-23 to serve up to two years in constructive nation-building activities for which they will be suitably compensated. There’s been no movement on this.

 Will introduce judicial reforms by setting up of gram nyayalayas at the headquarters of the intermediate panchayats and mobile courts in the rural areas. Where are theyIJ

 Will control inflation in 100 days and control prices. The party-led regime has miserably failed.

 Will bring back money stashed in foreign shores within 100 days of  coming to power. The highest court of the country has had to rap the Government time and again on this issue. But still, there has been no action.

 Will create two crore jobs a year. On the contrary, jobs have been lost.

 Will have the Samajik Sadbhavna, the Yuva Rogzgar, the Grameen Vikas, the Arthik Navotthan, the Mahila Sashaktikaran, and the Saman Avsar. These six packages of 2004 are forgotten.

 Will cut Plan expenditure by Rs75,000 crore for the financial year 2012-13 and by one lakh crore rupees for the FY 2011-12. It has not been done.

The Congress-led Government is neck deep in corruption, and on account of its mis-governance the country is now experiencing chaos. Policy paralysis, governance, trade, ethical and trust deficits are now the hallmarks of the almost one- decade long period of Congress misrule.

The NDA handed over a robust economy to the UPA in 2004, at 8.4 per cent. Today, it has slipped to 4.6 per cent. The NDA had managed inflation so that it remained within single digits. The UPA’s mismanagement let it remain in double digits. At one time in the UPA regime, it went up to 18 per cent to 20 per cent! Macro-economic indicators — fiscal deficit, trade deficit and inflation — remained far higher than normal during the UPA’s tenure. As a result, the rupee fell substantially.  The exchange rate of the dollar was in the range of 40 to 42 during the NDA regime. It has gone beyond 60 during the UPA rule; and at times it reached 70 to a dollar.

The NDA could create 6.7 crore jobs in the last six years, whereas the UPA, in its 10 year tenure, could create only 1.54 crore jobs. The Congress are now promising 10 crore new jobs! The NDA Government put national highways on fast track. Fifty per cent of them laid in last 32 years was during Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s rule. This is the UPA Government’s own admission before the Supreme Court. The NDA has constructed 23,814km of national highways in five years. The UPA has laid only 16,000km in 10 years. The UPA has completely failed to build on the growth initiatives of the NDA.

Mere passing of laws will not suffice. What is required is not a Bill, it is the political will which the Congress doesn’t have. Right to education has remained on paper in the last three years. The right to food, the food security, is only for vote security. The Congress kept silent for close to 10 years and brought the Bill just before the election. It has promised six per cent of GDP on education, did not allot even four per cent in the last 10 years. It promised two to three per cent of GDP on health but not even 1.3 per cent of GDP has been allocated. The UPA regime saw hundreds of factories becoming sick and lakhs of workers getting unemployed.

There is massive public anger over the Congress’s betrayal on the promises it made to the people. As a result of this, there is a clear urge among the people to elect a BJP-led Government at the Centre. A massive groundswell of support is clearly evident for Mr Narendra Modi, who can bring the country’s derailed economy back on the rails and take the nation forward towards progress and prosperity. 

(The writer is a Member of Parliament and former national president of the BJP)