Draft Congress manifesto: Focus on jobs, farm and banking reforms

The party's research department team, which Rajya Sabha member M V Rajeev Gowda heads, has sifted through the suggestions received in the last five months

Minimum income guarantee for the poor, urban employment guarantee, agrarian reforms aimed at landless cultivators and ending farm indebtedness, setting up a ‘bad bank’ for banking reforms, and a statutory calamity fund for states are some big ideas the Congress party has received as part of its over five-month long consultations with stakeholders to draft its manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha (LS) polls. The manifesto is slated to be released later this month.

The manifesto consultation exercise, termed ‘Jan Awaaz 2019’, or ‘Your Voice 2019’, began in October under the leadership of manifesto drafting committee chief and senior party leader