NEW DELHI, April 8: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of India released its Lok Sabha election manifesto amid the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday.
In the 48-page manifesto, the BJP has laid out its vision in the field of agriculture, education, and robust nationalism for the next five years, India Today Online reported. Addressing the event, Indian Prime Minister Modi made a pitch for re-election during the launch of the BJP manifesto, the First Post Online reported.
"By 2047, which will be 100 years of independence, it is my dream that India is established as a developed country," the report quoted Modi as saying. Presenting the BJP manifesto, India's Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the BJP drafted the Lok Sabha election manifesto after constituting a committee headed by Rajnath Singh himself and 12 other sub-committees.
"The manifesto is a vision document of 130 crore people of the country. We approached the people with 300 raths, Mann ki Baat programmes, and social media to consult them over the manifesto," Rajnath Singh said. The BJP manifesto mentions the scrapping of the Article 370 which gives autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
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"In the last five years, we have made all necessary efforts to ensure peace in Jammu and Kashmir through decisive actions...We reiterate our position since the time of the Jan Sangh to the abrogation of Article 370," the Indian Today Online quoted the parts of the BJP manifesto.
The BJP has also promised to scrap Article 35A which provides special rights and privileges to the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir, according to Indian media reports. "We are committed to annulling Article 35A of the Constitution of India as the provision is discriminatory against non-permanent residents and women of Jammu and Kashmir. We believe that Article 35A is an obstacle in the development of the state. We will take all steps to ensure a safe and peaceful environment for all residents of the state," the BJP manifesto reads.
The BJP Lok Sabha election manifesto promises to hold simultaneous elections for Parliament, State assemblies and local bodies to reduce expenditure.
"We are committed to the idea of simultaneous elections for Parliament, State assemblies and local bodies to reduce expenditure, ensure efficient utilization of government resources and security forces and for effective policy planning," the manifesto reads. Besides other issues, the BJP manifesto also talks about a single voter list to avoid confusion so that everyone gets a chance to exercise their right to vote for all public bodies.
"In order to ensure that every citizen gets the right to exercise his/her franchise for all public bodies and to avoid confusion created by multiple voter lists, we will strive to ensure a common voter list for all elections," the manifesto reads. The BJP manifesto also has a clause reserved for the Ram Mandir and promises to construct the Ram Mandir within the framework of the Constitution. "We reiterate our stand on Ram Mandir. We will explore all possibilities within the framework of the Constitution and all necessary efforts to facilitate the expeditious construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya," the BJP manifesto reads. For the small trader, the BJP manifesto promises to establish National Traders' Welfare Board and create a National Policy for Retail Trade for the growth of retail businesses.
To protect the interests of small traders, the BJP manifesto promises to provide an accident insurance of 10 lakh rupees to all traders registered under GST. Top BJP leaders including party president Amit Shah, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were also present during the event.
