BJP’s manifesto is heavy on nationalism and national security, low on specifics to create more jobs

Ahead of the polls beginning on Thursday, April 11, the Bharatiya Janata Party released its manifesto today. Named “Sankalp Patra”, the 45-page manifesto was prepared by a committee headed by Rajnath Singh.

BJP chief Amit Shah opened the ceremony saying the manifesto will be dedicated to the people of the nation. The PM claimed it represents the true spirit of democracy since it reflects upon “jann ke mann ki baat” as it was written consulting lakhs of citizens via social media.

With unemployment being one of the biggest poll planks this season, the BJP’s manifesto is surprisingly insipid on that front. Job creation is mentioned only in the context of making India a manufacturing hub and strengthening India’s infrastructure. It also propped up the “Entrepreneurial Northeast” scheme for employment generation in Northeast states, and creating “new oppounities of employment by providing more support to the 22 major ‘Champion Sectors’ identified as the main drivers of Indian economy”.

Saying India became the world’s sixth largest economy from being 11th in 2014, Shah said, “Whenever the history of India’s development is written, the journey from 2014 to 2019 will be written in golden letters.” Shah further listed the “surgical strikes” along with the distribution of LPG connections and electricity as a success of the Modi government. Yet studies found that 85 per cent of the recipients of the Ujjwala Yojana, or the LPG connection distribution, continues to use earthen stoves.

Concentrating heavily upon “nationalism” and “national security” the manifesto reads that it will continue to bear “zero tolerance” towards terrorism, Rajnath Singh stated that national security policies will be dictated by the national security issues the country faces. A major focus for the continuing government will be to strengthen the Army. It will, therefore, work towards self-reliance on the procurement of defence equipment.

Significant emphasis was also served upon modernising the police forces and army equipment, alongside committing to the welfare of veterans with the implementation of long-pending One Rank One Pension (OROP) demand.

The manifesto also stands ground on the party’s commitment to the abrogation of Articles 35A and 370. Earlier this week Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said, that his country will not tolerate the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. Former chief ministers of the state, Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti agreed along these lines.

Despite not being one of the central topics of discussion this election season, on the issue of Ram Mandir, Singh reiterated that they will do all they can within the framework of the Constitution to facilitate the construction of the temple in Ayodhya.

Aside from a commitment to implement the Uniform Civil Code, the manifesto claims to see through the Citizenship Amendments Bill, which has seen significant and continuous protests in several parts of the country, especially Assam since its proposal in 2016. Expanding the Kisan Samman Nidhi, the manifesto promises a pension amount of Rs 6,000 annually to farmers above the age of 60. It also promises pensions to small shopkeepers above this age. Loans to farmers up to Rs 1 lakh at 0 per cent credit was promised, as opposed to Congress decriminalising farm loan defaults. Singh said the party aims to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2025.

The manifesto says it will prioritise women’s welfare and development, stating it will constitutionally work towards 33 per cent reservations for women in Parliament and other state Assemblies.

Making a jibe at Congress, incumbent finance minister, Arun Jaitley said, “In this season of manifestos, this was not prepared with a ‘tukde-tukde’ mindset.” He was backed by Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, who said, “If one compares the two manifestos, one would know that Narendra Modi knows the people of this country and their spirit, Rahul Gandhi does not.”

In the meantime, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “We have found 11 lies from the manifesto that the BJP has announced today. Neither of the Union ministers who spoke today mentioned these words: Unemployment, demonetisation, GST, black money or corruption.”