Fact-Check: Viral Claim About Congress Manifesto for 2024 Polls Is Misleading!

Most of the points that the claim makes about the Congress' manifesto are misleading or false.

Social media users are sharing a post which lists several points allegedly taken from the Indian National Congress' manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

What does it claim?: It says that the Congress, in its manifesto, has said that it will bring back Triple Talaq, or Muslim personal laws while providing the community with reservations in government and private jobs.

• It adds that the party has expressed support for 'Love Jihad', burqas, ending majoritarianism, supporting Gaza and Hamas, and "ban bulldozer action."

• The claim further states that Congress aims to legalise same-sex marriage, gender fluidity and the "trans movement" while allowing treason.

• Lastly, it brings the focus back to the Muslim community, claiming that the party will "increase Muslim judges in judiciary (sic)," will stop mob lynching, legalise beef, and have a separate rate of interest for Muslims.

The Quint received a query to verify the Hindi version of this claim on its WhatsApp tipline.

(Archives of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here, here, and here.)

But..?: We went through the party's manifesto in both English and Hindi, and found that the viral claim makes several false or misleading statements.

How did we find out the truth?: We went to the party's website and read through the manifesto in both languages that it was published it – English and Hindi – to ensure that there was no mistranslation in the claim.

Let us look into the long list of claims made in the viral post.

1. Revival of Triple Talaq, Strengthening Personal Laws

The first point of the viral post claims that the Congress, if elected to power, would bring back the struck down Triple Talaq law, and would work to strengthen personal laws.

While the manifesto does not make any specific mention of the Triple Talaq law, it says, "We will encourage reform of personal laws. Such reform must be undertaken with the participation and consent of the communities concerned."

This confirms that while the party has promised to work towards reformation of personal laws while consulting the communities they impact, it is misleading to claim that they will bring the Triple Talaq law.

2. Reservation for Muslims in Private and Government Jobs

Under a section titled 'Equity' in the manifesto, the Congress guaranteed that it would "pass a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 percent cap (sic)" on reservations for the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC).

It also guaranteed a 10 percent reservation for those belonging to economically weaker sections of society, regardless of caste or community.

It did not single out the Muslim community for reservations in jobs.

However, it did specify that it would enact a law to "provide reservation in private educational institutions for SC, ST, and OBC."

3. Supporting ‘Love Jihad’, the Burqa, and Legalising Beef

The post, with three discrete points, claims that the Congress is supporting 'Love Jihad', a term popularised by the right-wing to describe entrapment for religious conversion, while also supporting the use of burqas in schools and intends to legalise the sale and consumption of beef.

However, the manifesto does not mention these specific words at all, making the claim misleading.

The party promises "not to interfere with personal choices of food and dress, to love and marry, and to travel and reside in any part of India."

It adds that all existing laws and rules which "interfere unreasonably with personal freedoms will be repealed."

4. Ending Majoritarianism and 'Allowing Treason' by Removing Sedition

In both versions of the manifesto, neither of the points in the claim was mentioned.

However, at several points in the document, the Congress spoke about the current government being authoritative and majoritarian, and how these values have no place in the India given the country's "history and democratic traditions."

Additionally, it mentions defamation, not sedition, and clarifies that if voted to power, the party promises to "de-criminalise the offence of defamation" and "restore freedom of speech and expression."

There is no mention of treason anywhere in the whole manifesto.

5. Supporting Gaza and Hamas

The party highlighted India's recent "marked departure" from its stances on foreign policy, "notably on the ongoing Gaza conflict," pledging to restore India's reputation "as a voice of peace and moderation" in the world.

There was no mention of Hamas, which makes this part of the claim false.

6. Banning ‘Bulldozer Action’ and Mob Lynching

This part of the claim is true. While the Congress' manifesto does not explicitly talk about "banning" bulldozer action and mob lynchings, it mentions being "firmly opposed to" measures like mob lynching and putting an "end to the weaponisation " of bulldozer justice, among other things, promising to "stop them immediately."

7. Legalising Same-Sex Marriages, Gender Fluidity, Trans Movements

The Congress, in a section titled 'Senior Citizens, Persons
With Disabilities, and LGBTQIA+', the Congress promises to "bring a law to recognize civil unions between couples belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community (sic)," allowing marriage equality to a certain degree.

It also mentioned that Articles 15 and 16, which prohibit discrimination on several grounds, would be expanded to prohibit discrimination based on disability, impairment, or sexual orientation.

There was no mention of gender fluidity or the "trans movement."

8. Communal Violence Bill, Lower Interests for Muslims, and More Muslim Judges

The Congress' manifesto does not mention or propose a bill against communal violence, so the claim is misleading. It only mentions putting down a firm hand against "hate speeches, hate crime and communal conflicts."

Similarly, it did not mention a lower interest rate on loans for people from the Muslim community, nor did it specify that there would be more judges from the community.

The manifesto promised to bring in more High Court and Supreme Court judges from the SC, ST, OBC, religious minority communities, as well as more women judges at these positions.

Conclusion: A viral claim makes several misleading claims related to minority appeasement with respect to the Congress' manifesto.

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