As India gears up for the 2019 general elections, political parties have been having regular meetings to strategise and plan moves, which will then be a part of their manifesto. One such party that really hopes to overthrow the Modi government in the polls is Congress and it is said to be mulling several strategies for the polls. A move that it could end up banking on is the exemption of taxes for citizens below the age of 35.
The Congress is said to be mulling this move for a while now and it was also discussed in a meeting on July 13, reported the Print. However, it is yet to find a place in the party's poll manifesto.
"Nothing concrete has come out on that front but yes the idea to not tax those under 35 was briefly discussed at the meeting," a source told the Print.
The meeting was reportedly presided by Priyanka Gandhi, who is known to be an active member of the party during elections.
With this, Congress seems to be trying to lure the young voters in the country and the party also believes that the 2019 polls is going to witness about 15 million first time voters. However, this is not the first time that the party has tried to lure the youth.
It had tried a similar strategy in 2014 as well, and its manifesto clearly spoke about jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities for the youth. The party had even promised jobs to the youth within 100 days of coming to power.
The Modi government has found quite a few detractors of late, and this is expected to be a hurdle in the upcoming polls. Even though the Congress Working Committee (CWC) pitched Rahul Gandhi's name as its prime minister choice, the party said that its main purpose was to see a leader that was not backed by the RSS. "Congress would be willing to accept any candidate from an Opposition party. We are comfortable seeing any Prime Minister other than an RSS backed one," a Congress member had said.
In tune, the party is also ready to support Mayawati and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the top post.
However, the BJP believes that the Opposition, which is currently made up of a coalition of several parties, will not survive for long. PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh had earlier said in the Parliament that this unity would crumble the moment the PM candidate's name is discussed.
