NEW DELHI: The BJP election manifesto, unveiled on the occasion of Ram Navami, reasserted its hardline Hindutva agenda _ grand Ram temple at Ayodhya, uniform civil code, Abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that confers special status on Jammu & Kashmir, promise to preserve Ram Sethu and to explore an alternative alignment for the Sethusamudram project, cow protection and cleaning Ganga. It has also promised to re-enact a tough, POTA-type antiterror law.
The BJP manifesto offered to explore all possibilities, including judicial proceedings and negotiations, to facilitate the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The BJP, which had put the contentious issues on the backburner during the tenure of the Vajpayee Government, has brought it back on its agenda. The party also offered to promote inter-faith dialogue on conversions, apparently in the backdrop of the anti-Christian violence in Orissa and elsewhere.
On the internal security, the manifesto promised revamping of the Intelligence Bureau, reviewing border management and strengthening coastal security. It said that a national maritime authority will be set up to coordinate coastal security. It also promised introduction of the multipurpose national identity cards.
Doling out sops, the BJP promised 35 kg rice/wheat at Rs 2 a kg for all the families below poverty line, which will be made available through food coupons redeemable both at PDS and private outlets. It has promised to raise Income-Tax exemption ceiling to Rs 3 lakh and to Rs 3.5 lakh for women and senior citizens. The party promised food security to make India hunger- free.
The package for farmers promised by the party includes farm loans at 4 percent interest, waiver of agricultural loans, introduction of farm income insurance scheme, and special schemes for the urban poor such as loans at 4 per cent interest to vendors.
The BJP made a commitment to the creation of Telangana in Andhra Pradesh, besides sympathetically considering the longpending demands of the Gorkhas in Darjeeling district in West Bengal.
The party made a promise to make ragging a criminal offence with stern punishment by paving for trial through fast-track courts.
The BJP has decided to replicate the Ladli Lakshmi Scheme at the national level to encourage girls to attend the school. Girls belonging to the BPL families will be given free bicycles.
In the backdrop of the Indo-US nuclear deal, the BJP promised to amend the Constitution, making it mandatory for seeking Parliament’s approval before entering into any bilateral or multilateral agreements impinging on the India’s strategic programme, economic interest and territorial integrity.
Present at the occasion were the party’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani, party president Rajnath Singh, election manifesto committee chairman Murli Manohar Joshi and senior leaders M Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley.