The Election Commission has issued guidelines regarding the manifesto.Image Credit source: PTI
Congress released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on Friday. The manifesto focuses on 5 justice and 25 guarantees, which include farmer justice, women’s justice, youth justice, labor justice, equity justice. Many promises have been made in the manifesto like conducting caste census and giving Rs 1 lakh every year to a woman from a poor family. But many times it is seen when the party does not fulfill its promises.
In such a situation, the question is that if a political party is not able to fulfill the promises made in its manifesto, will action be taken against it? If so, what action can be taken?
What is a manifesto?
The manifesto serves as a benchmark for the public at large by detailing the ideology of the concerned political party and its policies and programs for the public. By comparing the manifestos of the parties, voters are able to decide which party they want to vote for. It has been seen that many parties make big announcements in their manifestos, but after coming to power, they are not 100 percent successful in fulfilling the promises made. Are they legally bound to keep their promises?
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What decisions has the court given on the manifesto?
The matter of fulfilling the election manifesto and the promises given to the parties in it has reached the court more than once. In the year 2015, lawyer Mithilesh Kumar Pandey had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court on this matter. However, the petition was dismissed by a bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy asking, “Is there any provision in law which makes the promises made in the manifesto enforceable against a political party?” Its conclusion was that the party is not legally bound to fulfill the promises made in the election manifesto.
In 2022, a petition was filed in the Allahabad High Court, seeking to register a criminal case against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not fulfilling the promises made by then party president Amit Shah during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. . But the court rejected the petition and said that political parties cannot be punished for failing to fulfill the promises made in the election manifesto.
Justice Dinesh Pathak, who was hearing the case, had said, ‘The manifesto issued by any political party is a statement of its policy, ideology and promises, which is not binding and cannot be enforced through courts of law. Is.’
Are political parties free to make any kind of promise?
It is not that political parties can make any kind of promises in their manifesto to win the elections. To ensure a level playing field between all parties at the time of elections, the Supreme Court had in 2013 directed the Election Commission to prepare guidelines on election manifestos, which would be included as part of the model code.
The Supreme Court said, ‘Although the promises made in the election manifesto cannot be considered as ‘corrupt practices’ under Section 123 of the RP Act, it cannot be denied that in any way Giving away freebies influences voters. This shakes the roots of free and fair elections to a great extent.
What are the guidelines regarding the manifesto?
After the decision of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission discussed the manifesto with national and state level parties across the country. After this, the Commission has prepared guidelines regarding the manifesto. At present, no party can say such things in the manifesto which goes against the Constitution.
Many such cases had come to light in which leaders were making direct promises to the public. To stop such activities, the Commission said in its 2019 order that political parties are expected to comprehensively explain in the manifesto the ways to meet financial requirements. The parties were also told that the trust of voters should be gained only on those promises which can be fulfilled.
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