The BJP released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls on Monday, 8 April, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that the focus of their ‘sankalp patra’ is on “one vision, one direction.” Soon after the release, Congress called BJP’s manifesto a “book of gimmicks.”
Union Minister Rajnath Singh, enlisting the highlights of the BJP manifesto, said that the Uniform Civil Code and Citizenship Amendment Bill will be passed in the next five years. He further added that the government will “try to build Ram Mandir soon.”
“The BJP manifesto lists 75 promises for 2022, to mark 75 years of India’s independence,” said Amit Shah, releasing the manifesto.
Talking to BloombergQuint, BJP Spokesperson Narendra Taneja said that the BJP is working towards a ‘new India’ and the manifesto only reiterates that.
“There are many projects which are work in progress, many of which have been delivered and many still on the drawing board. The objective is to transform India in a significant manner by 2022. We are focussing on economy, infrastructure, farm distress, small traders a lot in our manifesto.”Narendra Taneja, BJP Spokesperson
Journalist and Author Rasheed Kidwai said that there is a stark contrast between the BJP’s manifesto and that of the Congress. “If you look at the cover, there is big picture of PM Narendra Modi, while the Congress’ cover has an image of the people of India. The content is very different as well,” he said.
Taking a dig at the BJP for promising 33 percent reservation for women, uniform civil code, simultaneous elections and more, Kidwai said the party should have delivered it in the past five years, instead of using it as sops for elections
Political Commentator and Strategist Amitabh Tiwari said that the manifesto is a mixture of efforts to keep the key voting segment happy, as well as addressing issues like farm distress, which have been the key poll planks in the recent three state elections.
“It has Ram temple, uniform civil code, for people who have been supporting the Hindutva plank. It has been beefing up the defence forces and protecting the sovereignty as well. It has elements for its key voting segments and also elements to negate them like farm distress,” Tiwari said.
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