Congress manifesto may promise sedition law repeal

NEW DELHI: Congress is likely to promise to the electorate that it would remove the sedition law from the statute if voted to power.


The manifesto committee of the AICC has made the recommendation against the draconian law in its draft which is to be approved by the party leadership. The manifesto panel is headed by senior leader P Chidambaram.

While in controversy for years, the sedition law hit the headlines in 2016 when JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was slapped with charges over the allegations that he supported "anti-India" slogans in the campus.

It resulted in a "BJP vs opposition" face-off with the ruling party dubbing the support for Kumar as backing for anti-national forces. With Congress chief Rahul Gandhi visiting the JNU campus during the polarising controversy, the BJP targeted him too.

A Congress poll pledge on the issue could trigger a controversy if the ruling BJP seeks to revive its charge against the opposition.

According to a Congress leader, the abolition of sedition law was aimed to "restore democratic dissent" which has been emasculated by the Narendra Modi government.


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