Lok Satta Party’s 50 Irrevocable Guarantees - Foreword

Lok Satta Party was formed with the goal of creating new politics for a new generation of Indians. For Lok Satta, power is a means to promote public good, and not an end in itself. Lok Satta believes that elections are about the people and their future, and not just about candidates and parties.

That is why Lok Satta unequivocally rejects traditional vote-gathering techniques employed by traditional parties in India. Most Indian political parties take advantage of the poverty, ignorance and helplessness of the bulk of the people. Vote buying, distributing liquor, arousing animosities on sectarian grounds, enticing people with short-term sops and freebies, running politics as big business, abusing public office and trust for private gain, indulging in dynastic politics – all of these are endemic to our political crisis.

Lok Satta is striving to change the rules of the game by adopting and practicing internal democracy, transparent resource mobilization and utilization, national public policies and democratic methods of mobilizing public opinion, enhancing the liberty of all sections.

Every political party has the obligation to analyse social conditions and propose clear and unambiguous goals for progress and prosperity. Lok Satta’s goals are:
 

• Eliminating all forms of discrimination by birth through ensuring opportunities for quality education, healthcare, skills and employment.
• Enhancing incomes in agriculture and other traditional occupations.
• Improving quality of life by creating basic amenities in all rural and urban settlements.
• Establishing truly empowered and effective district and local governments and decentralizing power.
• Promoting full transparency and accountability at all levels of governance.
• Establishing rule of law and ensuring that all people are treated equally without favouratism or discrimination.
• Ensuring social justice by building a new society in which a child’s future is not determined by birth, caste, family, region, religion or wealth.
• Utilizing public resources fully and properly.
• Eliminating corruption.

It will be the duty of a future Lok Satta government to introduce specific policies and programmes to implement this agenda of governance. Meanwhile, it is the responsibility of Lok Satta Party to design these policies and programmes, and mobilize public opinion in support of them. Traditional politics in India regards people as mere vote banks and mendicants seeking alms from the state. Misappropriation of a large proportion of public money, squandering precious resources, transferring a small part of public money to the tax payers in the form of sops and freebies for short-term political gain, and reducing people into abject dependence on political patronage and state support are the key features of the traditional, kleptocratic politics of India. Lok Satta aims to transform this by enhancing the capabilities of citizens, making them partners in wealth creation, and promoting the dignity, self-esteem, security and opportunities of every individual.It is in this spirit that Lok Satta is placing before the people irrevocable and specific pledges to which the party is fully committed. It will be the primary task of Lok Satta government to fulfil these pledges in full measure.

Deep reflection, an unflinching commitment to achieve long-term public good, and treatment of citizens as sovereigns are embedded in each of these guarantees. In drafting these pledges, the following standards have been applied:

• Every citizen will have opportunities for growth without discrimination
• Politics and governance will be people-centered
• People are the true sovereigns in a democracy
• The citizen will be enabled to be self-reliant and independent
• Fulfillment of the long-term national goals
• Implementing best practices to achieve maximum output at least cost.
• Designing of rational, creative and practical policies.

Lok Satta is fully committed to each of these pledges. They constitute the well considered answer to the genuine question from people: “What can we expect from a Lok Satta government?”

We call upon every thinking citizen in the state to enlighten their families and fellow citizens about the new society Lok Satta envisions - a society in which there is dignity, opportunity, and justice for all Indians.