'Tis the season of making electoral promises and showering freebies as five states, including three in the Hindi heartland, go to polls this month.From health insurance cover, unemployment allowance for youth, reservation for women in government jobs to even an Indian Premier League (IPL) team — political parties have gone to great lengths to woo voters and target sections of the society.


The elections to Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana are being seen as the semi-finals ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and will be an acid test for the ruling BJP-led NDA and the I.N.D.I.A. bloc comprising Congress and other regional parties.


Thus, as election dates near, political parties leave no stone unturned to make their manifestoes look attractive, stuffing them with sops and schemes.


What Is A Manifesto?


The word manifesto is derived from the Latin word "manifestum", which means clear or conspicuous.


In simple terms, a manifesto is basically a list of assurances and promises of a political party that helps them attract voters and helps the people make informed choices. However, in recent years, manifestos have been dominated by 'freebies' -- a concern raised by the Election Commission.


In India, political parties are not legally bound to fulfil their manifesto promises and there are no consequences if they fail to fulfill their promises. However, certain guidelines have been framed as part of the Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct  to check manipulation of voters by false pledges.


READ | Assembly Elections: Code Of Conduct In Force. What Are The Dos And Don'ts For MLAs, MPs, Parties?


What Does The Model Code Of Conduct Say On Manifestoes?


Initially, when the Model Code of Conduct, which is a set of dos and don'ts for political parties, was drafted, it did not have any section on regulating poll manifestos. An additional Part VIII was inserted in February 2014 on manifestos following directions from the Supreme Court.
Interestingly, the guidelines on poll manifesto come into force from the date a party makes it public. This is irrespective of whether the date is before or after the announcement of the election dates.
The Election Commission guidelines on manifesto mainly touch upon the nature of pledges made by a party rather than on establishing accountability.



  • The code of conduct asks parties to ensure that Constitutional ideals were not violated in their manifestos.

  • It instructs parties not to make promises that "vitiate the purity of the election process or exert undue influence on the voters in exercising their franchise".

  • To maintain transparency and level-playing field, the guidelines say that parties should indicate the rationale behind their promises and also ways they would meet the financial requirement to implement their manifesto. "Trust of voters should be sought only on those promises which are possible to be fulfilled," the MCC further says.


All parties have to submit a copy of their election manifestos to the Election Commission within three days of its release. In 2019, the poll watchdog amended the MCC rules to bar parties from releasing their manifestos 48 hours before voting.


What Has The Supreme Court Said On Poll Manifestoes?


The issue of making political parties accountable for fulfilling poll manifestoes have reached the Supreme Court thrice.


The S Subramaniam Balaji vs State of Tamil Nadu case in 2013 had paved the way for the inclusion of guidelines on manifestoes in the Model Code of Conduct.


Acknowledging that giving freebies during polls impacts voters, the Supreme Court, however, held that promises made in manifestoes cannot be considered "corrupt practices" under Section 123 of the Representation of People's Act. The court then ordered the Election Commission to develop manifesto guidelines.


Two years later, in the 2015 Mithilesh Kumar Pandey v Union of India case, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition in this regard, saying there was no provision in the current legal framework that makes pledges by political parties in their manifestoes enforceable against them.


Another case that was dismissed by the Supreme Court was of a petitioner who sought direction to the Delhi government to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill and Swaraj Bill as was promised by the AAP government in their manifesto.


The apex court held that there was no statutory backing to an election manifesto and thus enforcing it was not within the purview of the court.