The crisis in the agriculture sector, unemployment and national security have become the leading issues during the general election for the 17th Lok Sabha whose first phase began April 11, 2019.

The leading national political parties’ manifestos differ on how to address these issues. IndiaSpend examines the manifestos of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Indian National Congress (Congress) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) to compare how they propose to address these issues, as well as foreign relations, infrastructure and health.

LGBT rights

The Congress promises to ensure the effective implementation of the ruling in the Navtej Singh Johar case as the next steps are towards legalising same-sex marriage. If voted to power, the Congress promises to immediately withdraw the Transgender Bill of 2018 that is pending in Parliament. Instead, it aims to introduce a Bill consistent with the judgment in the case in order to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA) rights.

The CPI-M has also promised legal recognition and protection to same-sex couples similar to marriage--a ‘civil union’, ’same-sex-partnership’--through legislation on the lines of the Special Marriage Act 1954. This aims to ensure that partners can be listed as dependents for the purposes of inheritance, alimony, etc. Legislation will also ensure that crimes against LGBT persons are treated on par with crimes against non-LGBT persons. The BJP manifesto has no mention of these groups. Read more via India Spend