NEW DELHI: India’s main opposition party Congress vowed in its manifesto released on Friday to protect religious minorities — generally seen as a reference to Muslims — and backward castes through “affirmative action”, meaning reservations in jobs and admissions if voted to power after elections.

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), which 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.

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 per cent cap on reservations for backward castes in government jobs and education.

The party said such groups make up nearly 70 per cent 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 per cent in rural and 30 per cent in urban India in 2022/23, according to a government survey released last month.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2024