The Election season is here and with this season we see the political parties releasing poll manifestoes. These manifestoes promise stars and loaded with goodies and freebies. There are guidelines by the Election Commission of India on the concept of poll manifesto e.g. Election manifesto - concept and relevance A manifesto is generally defined as a published declaration of the intentions, motives or views of an individual, group, political party or government whosoever issues it. A manifesto usually comprises a previously published opinion or public consensus and/or promotes a new idea with prescriptive notions for carrying out changes for future. Oxford dictionary defines manifesto as a public declaration of the policy and aims of a group such as a political party. Thus an election manifesto is a published document containing a declaration of the ideology, intentions, views, policies and programmes of a political party. The Election Manifestos are generally drafted by the Political Parties keeping an eye on forthcoming elections and are generally published and well publicized.

As already stated above, the election manifesto normally contains the declared ideology of the political Party concerned in general and its policies and programmes for the Country/State and people at large. It, therefore, serves as a reference document or benchmark for the public at large for what a political party stands for. By comparing the ideologies, policies and programmes of the political parties, the electors can decide which party they should vote for to meet their expectations and aspirations.

How do the citizens look at the poll manifestoes? How the trends of poll manifestoes changed over the years in the country?

Join us for a discussion to talk about these broader issues related to poll manifestoes

Guest Speakers: (1) Prof Kancha Illiah: Kancha Ilaiah, who now refers to himself symbolically as Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, is an Indian political theorist, writer and activist for Dalit rights. He writes in both English and Telugu.

Among Ilaiah's official appointments have been: Director, Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP) at Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad Member of National Research Committee constituted by the Ministry of Social Justice, New Delhi Member – Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi

(2) G. Ramulu: Ramulu is CPM Telangana State Secretariat member.

ALL ARE WELCOME!!!