Implement 5 key promises: Sonia Gandhi

New Delhi: Though the much-touted Congress manifesto failed to find resonance with the masses during the Lok Sabha polls, interim party president Sonia Gandhi wants that some prominent promises made in the document should be implemented in the five Congress-ruled states of the country.

As of  now, the Congress has state governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Puducherry, Chattisgarh and Punjab.

Mrs Gandhi has asked Congress treasurer Ahmed Patel and senior leader K. Raju to coordinate with each of the state governments and find out which of the schemes are implementable, sources said.  

The Congress manifesto released for the Lok Sabha polls in April this year had kept “Nyay” or the minimum income guarantee promise of `72,000 per household per annum as the mainstay but also promised a slew of other welfare measures, including a separate budget for farmers, filling up 24 lakh government vacancies, free education, improved healthcare and fixing a single moderate GST rate.

The 55-page document had been titled “Congress Will Deliver”. Then party president Rahul Gandhi had given a new slogan based on the Nyay scheme, ‘Garibi pe war, bahatar hazar’, and said that on winning the parliamentary polls the party will come out with a separate budget.