Will amend anti-defection laws; electronic vote tally will be matched against VVPAT slips: Congress manifesto

New Delhi: Promising to restore the voters' trust in the election process, the Congress on Friday said it will amend the election laws if it comes to power and voting will be through the EVMs but the electronic vote tally will be matched against the VVPAT slip tally.

In its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, the party also rejected the 'one nation one election' idea and promised that elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies will be held as and when they are due in accordance with the Constitution and the traditions of a parliamentary democracy.

The Congress promised to amend the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and make defection (leaving the original party on which the MLA or MP was elected) an automatic disqualification of the membership in the assembly or Parliament.

Under the rubric of "Defending the Constitution", the Congress said that it promises not to interfere with personal choices of food and dress, to love and marry, and to travel and reside in any part of India.

"All laws and rules that interfere unreasonably with personal freedoms will be repealed," the party said in the document in which it made a host of promises if it comes to power.

"We promise that the two Houses of Parliament will each meet for 100 days in a year and the great traditions of Parliament that prevailed in the past will be revived and scrupulously observed. We promise that one day in a week will be devoted to discuss the agenda suggested by the opposition benches in each House," the party said.

"We promise that the presiding officers of the two Houses will be required to sever their connection with any political party, remain neutral, and observe theage-old norm that the 'Speaker does not speak'," the Congress said.

In its manifesto, the Congress promised to restore the voters’ trust in the election process.

"We will amend the election laws to combine the efficiency of the electronic voting machine (EVM) and the transparency of the ballot paper. Voting will be through the EVM but the voter will be able to hold and deposit the machine-generated voting slip into the voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) unit. The electronic vote tally will be matched against the VVPAT slip tally," the party said.

"We promise to strengthen the autonomy of the Election Commission of India, the Central Information Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Commissions for SC, ST, minorities and OBC, and other constitutional bodies," it said.

The party also promise to restore the Planning Commission and define its role and responsibilities that will include formulating medium and long-term perspective plans to meet the needs of the Nav Sankalp Economic Policy.

"We promise to ensure that the police, investigation and intelligence agencies will function strictly in accordance with law. They will be brought under the oversight of Parliament or the state legislatures, as the case may be," the party said.

"We promise to put an end to the weaponisation of laws, arbitrary searches, seizures and attachments, arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests, third-degree methods, prolonged custody, custodial deaths, and bulldozer justice," the party said.

The party promised to enact a law on bail that will incorporate the principle that "bail is the rule, jail is the exception" in all criminal laws.

"We will introduce comprehensive prison reform to transform jails into institutions of rehabilitation, reform and correction," it said.

The Congress alleged that India's democracy has been reduced to an "empty shell".

Every institution, including Parliament, is perceived to have lost its independence and become subservient to the executive government, the party said.

"It is common knowledge that it is the will of one person that prevails in the country. People's trust in democratic institutions will be restored," the Congress said.

The manifesto, focusing on five "pillars of justice" and 25 guarantees under them, was released at the AICC headquarters in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.