Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda and state party president CR Patil released the party’s manifesto for the Gujarat Assembly polls on Saturday. In its manifesto, the BJP announced a slew of promises, including jobs for 2 million unemployed youth, under the ‘Sankalp Patra’ scheme in the next five years. Making Gujarat a $1 trillion economy, schools of excellence (SoE) project, doubling of annual ceiling under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (Ayushman Bharat) from ₹ 5 to ₹ 10 lakh per family, implementation of uniform civil code, blue economy sector corridor etc .
In its manifesto, the BJP also promised to implement the Gujarat Recovery of Damages to Public and Private Property Act. The aim of the law is to recover damages caused to public and private property by anti-social elements during riots, violent protests, riots etc. We always do what we say and our specialty is that we do even what we did not say (in the manifesto),” said Nadda at commencement.
The party also said it will launch a Gujarat Olympics mission and create world-class sports infrastructure to host the 2036 Olympics, as per the manifesto. The manifesto also mentioned converting 20,000 government schools into schools of excellence with a budget of ₹10,000 crore in the next 5 years. “We will provide free and quality education to all girl students from KG to PG,” Nadda said.
“For Gujarat’s progress, we will make Gujarat a $1 trillion economy by maintaining a leading position in manufacturing, focusing on services and investing in human and institutional capacity building for new age industries. We will attract ₹5 crore foreign investment and make Gujarat the defense and aerospace manufacturing hub of India,” Nadda said while releasing the manifesto.
According to the manifesto, for agriculture and farmers, BJP will invest ₹ 10,000 crore under Gujarat Krishi Infrastructure Kosh to develop a holistic system of Khedut Mandis, modern APMCs, grading and sorting units, cold chains, warehouses, primary processing centers etc. BJP will also invest another ₹ 25,000 crore ₹ towards expansion of the existing irrigation network through projects like Sujalam Sufalam, SAUNI, lift irrigation projects, micro irrigation, drip irrigation and other schemes across Gujarat.
In the manifesto, the BJP also promised the people of Gujarat 1 liter of edible oil four times a year and 1 kg of subsidized chana per month at subsidized rates through the PDS scheme. Further, the BJP will ensure holistic care of livestock by strengthening Gaushalas (additional budget of ₹ 500 crore), setting up 1,000 more mobile veterinary units and ensuring complete vaccination and insurance as mentioned in the manifesto.
For the all-round socio-economic development of the tribals in Gujarat, the BJP said it would spend ₹1,000 crore under the Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana 2.0. The BJP will also set up two Sea Food Parks (one each in South Gujarat and Saurashtra), build India’s first blue economy industrial corridor and strengthen fisheries-related infrastructure (docks, cooling supply chain and mechanization of ships) if voted back to power, he said. the BJP chief.
The party aims to double the annual ceiling under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (Ayushman Bharat) from ₹ 5 lakh to ₹ 10 lakh per family and provide free medical treatment as stated in the manifesto. In the temple town of Dwarka in the Saurashtra region, the party said it would build a “Devbhumi Dwarka Corridor to become the largest spiritual center in western India, comprising the world’s tallest Shree Krishna statue, 3D immersive Bhagwat Gita experience zones and a gallery tour for the lost city of Dwarka.” “
On 5 November, the party launched the ‘Agresar Gujarat’ (Progressive Gujarat) campaign to reach out to the people of the state and get their views on how the party should go about crafting its manifesto for the upcoming Gujarat elections. The BJP has ruled Gujarat for six consecutive terms and is aiming to retain power against the opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming elections scheduled for the first week of December. In the last elections in 2017, the BJP won 99 seats and the Congress came close with 77 seats. Elections to the 182-member regional assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. Counting of votes will take place on December 8.
