Key Issues Addressed by the INC During Elections and Their Positioning - mostly focused on 2024 Lok Shaba election:
Main Issues Addressed and Target Audiences
1. Social Justice and Caste Equity
Key promises:
· Nationwide Socio-Economic and Caste Census.
· Constitutional amendment to raise the 50% cap on reservations for SC, ST, and OBC.
· Doubling scholarships for OBC, SC, and ST students.
· Filling backlog vacancies in reserved posts within one year.
Target audience: People from scheduled caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes, and marginalized communities.
Resource positioning: High. The party’s manifesto and leadership speeches placed significant emphasis on these promises, making them central to the campaign. The nationwide consultations and digital campaigns also focused heavily on social justice themes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Economic Welfare and Employment
Key Promises:
· Filling 3 million government job vacancies.
· Urban employment guarantee program for the urban poor.
· Minimum wage increase to ₹400 per day.
· Abolishing the Agnipath scheme and resuming regular armed forces recruitment.
· Mahalakshmi scheme: ₹1 lakh per year for every poor family.
Target audience: Youth, unemployed, urban poor, lower-income families.
Resource Positioning: Very High. Employment and welfare schemes were the most publicized elements, featured in “Paanch Nyay” (Five Justices) and “Pachees Guarantee” (25 Guarantees), and highlighted in social media, rallies, and the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Women’s Empowerment
Key Promises:
· 50% reservation for women in central government jobs.
· Financial assistance for women from poor families.
· Doubling government contributions to salaries of anganwadi, ASHA, and midday meal workers.
Target audience: Women, especially from lower-income backgrounds.
Resource Positioning: Moderate to High. Women’s justice was one of the five pillars, and the party dedicated significant manifesto space and campaign resources to these schemes.
Latest initiatives for menstrual health:
1. Free Sanitary Pads Distribution (2024)
Key promises:
· Distribution of free sanitary pads to poor women.
· Utilization of funds from the 'Donate for the Nyay Initiative' to purchase sanitary pads.
2. Menstrual Hygiene Policy for School Girls (2024)
Key promises:
· Provision of free sanitary pads to female students in Classes 6 to 12.
· Ensuring separate toilet facilities for girls in all government and government-aided schools.
· Mainstreaming menstrual hygiene education within the school system.
Target audience: Underprivileged women and Female students in government and government-aided schools across India.
Resource positioning: The policy mandates state-level interventions to bridge gaps in access to menstrual hygiene products and facilities.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Farmers and Rural Issues
Key Promises:
· Legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP).
· Waiver of farm loans.
· Removal of GST from agricultural commodities.
· Timely payments for crop loss.
Target audience: Farmers, rural households.
Resource Positioning: Moderate. While not as central as jobs or social justice, farmers’ issues was a prominent part of the manifesto, especially in states with a large agrarian population.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Institutional and Democratic Reforms
Key Promises:
· Restoring statehood to Jammu & Kashmir.
· Replacing the current GST regime with GST 2.0.
· Enacting a Direct Taxes Code for transparency.
· Strengthening democratic institutions and civil liberties.
Target audience: Middle class, business community, civil society, regional populations (e.g., Jammu & Kashmir).
Resource Positioning: Moderate. These issues were highlighted in leadership speeches and the manifesto but received less campaign resource allocation compared to economic and social justice issues.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Environment and Climate Change
Key Promises:
· Green New Deal Investment Programme for renewable energy.
· Clean air and water initiatives.
· Climate resilience mission and Green Transition Fund.
Target audience: Urban middle class, youth, and environmental activists in India.
Resource positioning: Low to Moderate. Environmental issues were included in the manifesto and some public communications but were not at the forefront of campaign spending or messaging.