CM Siddaramaiah, senior Congress leaders to seek people’s inputs for manifesto
New Delhi, (DHNS): Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and senior Congress leaders may soon embark on a mass contact programme to seek inputs from the electorate on their expectations from the party if voted to power again in the upcoming Assembly elections.
The manifesto-drafting exercise, helmed by senior leader M Veerappa Moily, has by and large been an internal affair involving consultations with party leaders from various regions to understand the aspirations of the people.
On Saturday last, Congress president Rahul Gandhi asked the party leaders to fan out across the state and seek inputs from the people and include them in the party manifesto for the Assembly elections.
The idea was first mooted by the Aam Aadmi Party which had reached out to voters in Delhi ahead of the 2013 Assembly elections seeking their inputs for the manifesto. The fledgling party had also come out with constituency-centric manifesto.
The Congress tried out this concept during the recently concluded Gujarat Assembly elections. Technocrat and Overseas Congress Chairman Sam Pitroda was tasked with drafting the “People’s Manifesto” for Gujarat.
Pitroda had held meetings with the residents of five cities – Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Surat to prepare the manifesto covering areas such as healthcare, small and medium enterprises, job creation and environment protection.
For Karnataka, Gandhi has asked the chief minister to involve senior leaders in a similar exercise.
The Congress manifesto is expected to focus on five transformational ideas that would bring about fundamental changes in the economic and social conditions of the people of the state.
Moily had claimed that the Siddaramaiah govenment had fulfilled 98% of the promises made in the Congress manifesto for the 2013 elections.
If wishes were horses beggars would be riders. Mr. Chief Minister you and your cabinet colleagues were not reachable to the common man for 4 years and 8 months of your rule. Suddenly you wake up from the slumber and realize a sudden sense of responsibility and morality. In my individual capacity, I had written to your more than 3 times on community issues. There was not even an acknowledgement to even one of them. On what basis do you expect people to vote you back to power. Healthcare in government hospitals is pathetic. You did nothing about it and went on to start Indira Canteens which were hastily inaugurated to be closed immediately for various reasons. How many of your Indira Canteens are functioning. You have got your priorities wrong. I would have appreciated if you had started mohalla clinics instead of these canteens with the tax payers money. Sorry. we are forced to look beyond for rulers who have a connect with the common people and not the ones who rest cozily in the AC offices.