The BJP today released its much-delayed manifesto on a day India began voting for a new government in the first of a nine-phase general election spread over 36 days. "Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat" (One India, great India) and "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas" are the main slogans of the 52-page manifesto.
Here are the key points of the BJP manifesto
- Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, said good governance and inclusive development would dominate his agenda. "I will do nothing for myself. I will do nothing out of ill-intent," he vowed.
- Emphasizing its stand on a key economic policy, the BJP says it will welcome Foreign Direct Investment in all sectors that will create jobs, except in multi-brand retail. (Read full manifesto)
- In what is likely to be controversial, the BJP has pledged to draft a Uniform Civil Code to "ensure gender equality." It also promises to do away with the Article 370 of the Constitution, giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
- The manifesto also mentions the BJP's old promise for a Ram temple at the disputed site of the razed Babri mosque in Ayodhya. It calls for the building of a grand temple at the site "within the Constitutional framework."
- The party has promised a low-cost housing programme to give every family a proper home within a decade, and 100 new "smart cities."
- It will also focus on reforms in taxation to attract investors and end "tax terrorism". The party says it will adopt a national General Sales Tax.
- The BJP aims to link welfare programmes like the Congress-led government's rural jobs schemes to assets creation, for example infrastructure building. It promises high speed bullet trains.
- A new health policy, the National Health Assurance Mission, will seek to provide "accessible, affordable and effective health care system."
- The party has made "water to every village, water to every field" its priority, said Mr Joshi.
- The BJP says it will revise and update the nuclear doctrine.
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