Bengaluru:
Implementation of the Uniform Civil Code, 10 lakh jobs in the manufacturing sector and a state capital territory tag for Bengaluru are among the top promises made by the BJP in its manifesto for the May 10 Karnataka assembly elections.
This document named BJP Praja Pranalike was released by the party’s national president JP Nadda in Bengaluru today. Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai and veteran party leader BS Yeddyurappa were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the media, Mr Nadda said the BJP’s vision for the state is “justice for all, appeasement of none”. He also said that the party’s government in the state has ended the “unconstitutional” reservation for Muslims. Just before the elections were announced, the Basavaraj Bommai-led cabinet decided to scrap the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims and split it equally between Lingayats and Vokkaligas – two politically dominant caste groups in Karnataka.
The Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) have started protesting against the move, with the opposition promising to restore reservation if voted to power.
The party, which is facing a tough election battle this time in the state, has said that its promises touch every section of the society.
It added that the Uniform Civil Code will be implemented in the state “on the basis of recommendations made by a high-level committee, which is to be constituted for the purpose”.
The party has also promised to introduce a National Register of Citizens and “sooner deportation of all illegal immigrants”.
Other promises include monthly ration kits for below poverty line families, fixed deposit schemes for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women and plans to develop Karnataka as a hub for electric vehicles. The party has also promised to give 3 free cooking gas cylinders to BPL families in a year – one each during the months of Yugadi, Ganesh Chaturthi and Diwali.
This time, the Congress, which is trying its best to win, has not released its manifesto yet. During the campaign, the opposition party has promised 200 units of free electricity to all households, 10 kg of rice to BPL families, Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the female head of every household and Rs 3,000 monthly allowance to unemployed graduates. ,
Janata Dal (Secular), the other party which is expected to have a triangular election battle, has promised a law to provide reservation to Kannadigas in the private sector. It has also said that it will pressurize the central government to conduct civil service and defense recruitment exams in Kannada as well.
The BJP manifesto also promises to improve “ease of living” for apartment dwellers in Bengaluru through an advisory committee. It has said it will launch an initiative to drive collaboration between small and medium-sized industries and industrial training institutes. At the school level, the BJP has promised a scheme under which the state government will rope in eminent individuals and institutions to upgrade state-run schools.
The manifesto also promises to boost public health infrastructure by setting up a clinic with diagnostic facilities in each municipal ward and free annual health check-up for senior citizens.
For farmers, the party has promised a fund of Rs 30,000 crore for setting up micro cold storage facilities, agro-processing units in every gram panchayat and modernization of agricultural produce committees.
In the tourism sector, the manifesto promised a Rs 1,500-crore plan to develop several circuits and corridors to turn Karnataka into a top tourist hub of the country.
It has also promised to identify 10 lakh housing sites for the homeless.