Cong promises job quota in private sector

Skirting the pitfalls of Mandal and masjid in the 1990s when poorly articulated arguments caused the Congress to fall between two stools and give away its popular base to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party was clear in its manifesto today that it would extend reservations to the poor among the forward castes, would create a national consensus to reserve "a reasonable share of jobs" for Dalits and Adivasis in the private sector, and would support reservations for Muslims, who are socially and educationally backward, as had been done by the Congress governments in Karnataka and Kerala.

Its manifesto reiterates its current stand on Ayodhya: that the court decision will be the final verdict, if any negotiations are to be held they must be held between the parties to the dispute, and other disputed sites like Kashi and Mathura, must not be touched under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1992.

The manifesto also spells out the other sections of the population it is reaching out to: unorganised labour for which a national commission will be set up; hawkers, vendors and food sellers; and slum-dwellers for whom an programme of urban renewal based on public-private partnership will be worked out.

The party has promised to introduce e-governance in a big way and will bring a law to protect "whistle blowers".

The manifesto has only a very short section on foreign policy and national security, something it has left for the Vision Document that should be out in a day or two.

It is careful not to criticise the US on any count at all, although it does not mention non-alignment either as a creed that was given to India by the Congress. Nor does it mention shibboleths of the past like south-south co-operation and G-15.

It promises a new department of ex servicemen's welfare in the defence ministry if it comes to power. It has supported formal and informal talks with Pakistan on all issues including Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of the Shimla agreement. On the nuclear issue it the identical position as the government - no capping, no rollback of the nuclear facility in India.

In the question hour that followed the release of the manifesto, Sonia Gandhi fielded questions in a composed manner, although she often faltered and stumbled over formulations.

When asked whe-ther, if the Congress lost the elections, she would consider that a rejection of her leadership, she refused to be baited and merely replied that everyone should wait for the results.

The maximum number of questions were naturally on her family""why Rahul and why not Priyanka. Her answer was that Priyanka would have to make up her own mind. And when asked whether she really wanted Rahul to contest, she said: "He is representing his father's constituency. Why would not I want that."

When asked why she had shifted to Rae Bareli she said as her father-in-law and mother-in-law had both contested from Rae Bareli, it was appropriate that she too do so. "We had a family discussion and decided that Rahul should contest Amethi and I should move to Rae Bareli," she said.