The manifestos of political parties have repeatedly promised basic amenities to the voters which included easy availability of food, clothes and proper housing facility. But now, this has evolved.
Aam Aadmi Party candidate from the city, Gul Panag said that it is time that the parties move beyond the usual promises made and meet the demands and challenges faced by the younger generations. Given the fact that a major chunk of voters in the upcoming general elections will be in the age group of 18-35, political parties are leaving no stone unturned to woo them.
Saksham Trust, a lGBT rights advocacy group believes that in a true democracy, an individual should have the freedom of choice and its members are ready to vote for a party which will lend an ear to their problems and help them in their fight against the criminalisation of homosexuality in the country.
A small group of activists from the State of Haryana performs relay strike at the Sector 17 plaza in the city. This group wants the mainstream political parties to promise a nuclear power free India in their manifesto and the activists strongly believe that they will be noticed sooner or later as they have a considerable amount of voters behind them.
Meanwhile, Humane Society International (HSI) — India presented a model manifesto on Animal Welfare to all political parties in India, and urges them to include animal welfare in their 2014 General Elections manifesto. The draft was submitted in the wake of growing number of incidents of animal cruelty issues reported in India.
Article 51A (g) in the Indian Constitution clearly states that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures.
HSI-India’s Managing Director, NG Jayasimha called for collective support from all political parties and said, “We believe that a change in political party manifestos can establish a higher animal welfare standard in the country. The Indian public is largely aware of animal welfare as a crucial issue and we urge all political groups to
firmly engage and take a progressive stand in safeguarding the welfare of animals in India.” Thankfully the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party has already taken their demand into consideration and has promised to put it in their manifesto.
On the other hand when the Congress supporters reached Sector 30 to campaign for their party and candidate Pawan Bansal, the first and foremost demand made by the residents of the area was to curb the street dog menace in the area. The party workers who had pamphlets advertising modern Chandigarh Railway station were left red-faced when many persons in unison said, “We will hit the railway station only when we will survive dog bites.”
This election season when all parties are trying hard to garner support for their candidates, one thing has become obvious that demands have changed and the electorate have learned how to press for them, making it an uphill task for the parties to say ‘Yes’ to all those demands, but no party is taking the risk of saying ‘No’ as each votes count.