In the Bihar Assembly elections, both the alliances have issued election manifestos with a lot of populism and announcements that attract or mislead the public. The kind of announcements made in these manifestos are certainly exaggerated. This question has now become serious whether the manifesto has become the most powerful weapon of the Mahakumbh of democracy i.e. elections or an electoral deception? Certainly, it has become the main medium to persuade and influence the public, but how many political parties have followed their manifestos in letter and spirit after coming to power is a big question. In fact, the manifesto is the vision document of a party, which is a public document of its ideas, objectives and resolutions. It tells what direction the party wants to take after coming to power, what fundamental problems it wants to solve and what path of development it wants to follow. There is a series of allegations and counter-allegations between the opposing parties regarding the promises made in the manifestos, but there is no meaningful debate on them as is done in developed countries and on the basis of which it helps in creating a healthy public opinion there. It is not surprising that election manifestos are losing their importance here.
The role of manifesto is very important in democracy, because it becomes the basis of information and decision for the voters. Voters can know what party thinks on which subject, what are its priorities and what plans it has for the welfare of which sections. This is a public pledge of political parties to the public, a symbol of a kind of accountability. But unfortunately in Indian democracy this accountability remains only on paper. Most of the parties forget the manifestos after winning the elections. Voters also do not demand an account of fulfillment of promises in return for their votes. As a result, manifestos have become a mere formality and a medium for show off. If we look at history, most of the announcements have been implemented only partially. In Rajasthan, the previous government fulfilled about 64 percent of its manifesto promises, whereas in Karnataka only three percent of the promises were fulfilled. These figures show that neither the parties nor the public take the manifesto seriously. This situation is contrary to the soul of democracy, because the strength of democracy lies in the fact that the public questions its representatives and demands answers.
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A major problem of manifestos is that the announcements made in them are impossible from the financial point of view. To please the public, such promises are made for which there are neither resources nor any concrete plan. There is also no legal provision that makes parties accountable for not fulfilling their promises. This is why announcements are forgotten after the elections. In the context of Bihar elections, both the NDA and the Grand Alliance have issued manifestos full of extremely attractive and populist promises. In its ‘Sankalp Patra’, the NDA has promised one crore jobs, assistance of up to Rs 2 lakh to women, skill centers in every district, annual honor fund of Rs 9,000 for farmers and construction of seven new expressways. At the same time, the Grand Alliance in its ‘tejasvi pledge’ has made big promises like providing government job to every family, monthly assistance of Rs 2,500 to women, health insurance of Rs 25 lakh, 200 units of free electricity, guarantee of support price to farmers and restoration of mandis. Both the announcements have one thing in common – they are extremely ambitious and people-friendly. Announcements of jobs, free electricity, cash assistance and huge investments sound attractive, but their practicality is questionable. In a state like Bihar, where resources are limited and the employment situation is complex, it is not easy to implement these promises. It has not been made clear in the announcements as to how such huge expenses will be borne, which departments or schemes will handle them and by when the results will be visible.
There is definitely a feeling of public welfare in these manifestos, but it seems to be based more on imagination than reality. The real problems of Bihar – education, health, migrant laborers, agricultural crisis, lack of employment and industries, will not be solved by populist promises alone. It is necessary that the parties seriously study their financial and administrative feasibility before making announcements. In politics, manifestos are now being used as an election weapon and not as a commitment to public service. Voters also need to be aware that they should not be influenced by promises alone but try to know which of the promises made in the previous elections were fulfilled. Media and social organizations should also take the responsibility of monitoring the announcements after the elections, so that the parties remain accountable. Manifestos will be meaningful only if the promises made in them are measurable, time-bound and resource-proven. Parties should convert announcements into concrete plans instead of sloganeering. It is also necessary that the Election Commission formulates a policy in this direction so that the public is not misled by impossible and impractical promises.
In such a situation, the subject of discussion is whether we should not ensure that during the elections, the promises made by the political parties in the election manifesto are fully implemented in reality? In fact, an election manifesto is essentially a list of policies that a political party publishes its intentions, objectives or ideas before the public at the time of elections in the form of an election manifesto. It is said in this that if that party comes to power after voting, it will work on those policies. Apparently this election manifesto is a vision document. Therefore, this manifesto should become a statutory and legally enforceable document. Certainly, election manifestos are a powerful medium for voters to gauge their views on the governance agenda of political parties while making decisions. It can also be said that voting is like a transaction. Once election promises are voted on then it should arguably be considered a legal contract. When a party comes to power by winning elections, the question arises whether the manifesto which has taken the form of a contract should be implemented or not? Given the social contract theory under which governments are elected, shouldn’t they be held accountable in terms of fulfilling the promises made? The Election Commission should also think afresh about this, so that some concrete solution can be found. It can definitely be said that manifestos are the most powerful medium to influence the public in the Mahakumbh of democracy, but as long as they remain only a series of promises and there is no compulsion to follow them, the meaning of democracy will remain incomplete. The manifestos of both the alliances of Bihar add to the glow of the democratic celebration, but their truth will come out only with time whether they fulfill the expectations of the people or prove to be mere election gimmicks.
– Lalit Garg
Writer, Journalist, Columnist