BJP manifesto promises to scale up existing schemes
The BJP picked up Constitution framer Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s birth anniversary to release its manifesto, calling it a promise to prepare the country for 2047 when India will celebrate its 100th independence day.
The much awaited manifesto aims at saturation of existing schemes, scaling them up to fill the gaps. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the manifesto, he kept the focus on development, building infrastructure, promoting India as a global manufacturing hub while briefly touching on the new cultural promises.
The BJP had fulfilled most of its ideological promises like removal of Article 370, enactment of CAA and construction of Ram Temple, so there were no new grandiose promises but reiteration of the existing ones. It, however, added a few more cultural promises—holistic development of Ayodhya, promotion of Ramayana development of cultural sites, preservation of Indian manuscripts, promotion of classical languages like Tamil, while promoting Thiruvalluvar and Birsa Munda.
India will bid for the 2036 Olympics and make a transition from Chandrayaan to launch of Gaganyaan, PM Modi said.
The big promise in BJP’s manifesto is not the promise of new things, but on delivery, which is termed as Modi’s Guarantee. “It is a guarantee of completing the guarantees,” Modi said. This is also the campaign theme for the BJP as it is in the midst of a hectic campaign with the first phase elections due on April 19.
The manifesto is a step-up of existing government schemes which aims to give a signal and hope to the people that they will get more. Modi is aiming to build his legacy on full saturation of his existing schemes as most of the ideas also appear to have come from the ministries. “We will get down to implementation in the next 100 days after forming government,” Modi said.