Lok Sabha elections 2019: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is leading Congress battle team in eastern UP
Highlights
- Congress released its manifesto for the 2019 polls that begin next week
- Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged people to read the Congress poll manifesto
- Make this election about real issues, she tweeted
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who took the plunge into full-time politics this year, had a word of advice for young people on a day when her party released its manifesto for the national election that begins next week.
Titled "Congress Will Deliver" in a bold, white font printed over a photo of a sea of people, the manifesto published in a paperback-like format has a smiling portrait of party chief Rahul Gandhi beside the hand election symbol.
"I urge everyone, especially young people and 1st time voters - Please read our manifesto. Make this election about real issues," Priyanka Gandhi tweeted.
"This (manifesto) helps youngsters and it also raises real issues," she told NDTV.
The announcement earlier this year that Priyanka Gandhi would lead the party's battle formation in eastern Uttar Pradesh, where the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is located, was welcomed by Congress workers in the state where it is struggling to claw back to prominence.
Like her brother who has often broadcast himself as a leader the young can depend on, Priyanka Gandhi is also seen as a Congress face who could have a shot in connecting with young voters.
The Congress is looking to pre-empt any rolling benefits of the Modi government's cash transfer scheme - Rs 6,000 a year in three equal instalments - announced in this year's interim national budget, with its promise of crediting Rs 72,000 a year to the poorest of the poor.
Though the Congress's thrust is definitely on the minimum income guarantee "NYAY" promise for the poor, the party indicated it has not forgotten the middle class voters.
At the launch of the manifesto today, Rahul Gandhi, flanked by his mother Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, said he will simplify the Goods and Services Tax if the Congress was voted to power.
"When we started a year ago, I made it clear that nothing in this can be a lie, because we live in a time where we hear a large number of lies every day," Rahul Gandhi said.
The BJP today came down heavily on the Congress for releasing what the ruling party called "un-implementable and dangerous promises". Hours after Rahul Gandhi's press conference, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley claimed to have spotted gaping holes in the Congress's manifesto.
"I am sure the county is not in a mood to oblige, for implementing the kind of promises contained in this manifesto. Some of the ideas are positively dangerous," Mr Jaitley told reporters.