“Reform, perform is our identity.” -- PM
“India’s youth will not have even imagined the number of opportunities that will come their way,” Prime Minister Narendra Mdi said at BJP headquarters after releasing the party's Sankalp Patra called 'Modi's Guarantee'.
The gathering included key central ministers who sat in the audience wearing stoles featuring the BJP’s lotus symbol. Of course the manifesto was also released by Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, BJP chief J P Nadda and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Exuding an extra ordinary confidence, the party said it will turn India into a global manufacturing hub, and work on making India’s cities more liveable.
PM Modi later said he has already instructed officials to begin work on policies to be implemented when he returns to office.
“After June 4, we will start working towards our manifesto promises... We have already started working towards key decisions to be taken in the first 100 days.”
The saffron party pledged to create jobs, boost infrastructure and expand welfare programmes if it wins a third term.
The general election, which begins on April 19, will be held in seven stages until June 1. Votes are due to be counted on June 4 and results expected the same day.
Notably, a flamboyant Hindu nationalism, strong economic growth, infrastructure projects and a series of welfare measures taken in the last decade are expected to bring back 73-year-old Narendra Modi back to power.
Several BJP leaders speaking at the launch lauded the Manifesto. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who was chairman of the manifesto committee, described it “as good as 24-karat gold”.
Modi said the manifesto is focused on creating jobs in sectors such as infrastructure, aviation, railways, electric vehicles, green energy, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, among others, in a bid to address discontent at unemployment levels that are rising despite strong economic growth.
Surveys, however, suggest unemployment, inflation and rural distress remain issues of concern in the world’s most populous country despite its strong economy, and addressing these will be Modi’s biggest challenge.
“Our focus is on dignity of life … on quality of life, our focus is also on creating jobs through investment,” Modi said after releasing the manifesto, titled ‘Modi’s Guarantee’, at the party headquarters in the capital.
“The ambition of the 1.4 billion people of the country is Modi’s mission,” Modi said. “I am placing this manifesto before the people to seek their blessings. Please bless us … to increase our strength … implement this manifesto and ensure a developed India.”
Unemployment was the primary concern of 27 per cent of the 10,000 voters surveyed by Lokniti-CSDS across 19 of India’s 28 states, with rising prices coming second at 23 pc.
The unemployment rate rose to 5.4pc in 2022/23, from 4.9pc in 2013/14 just before Modi swept to power, and nearly 16pc of urban youth in the 15-29 years age group remained unemployed in 2022/23 due to poor skills and a lack of quality jobs, official data shows.
Modi has dominated Indian politics since he helped the BJP win the 2014 election in a landslide. He remains hugely popular and has been the party’s star campaigner for the past decade.
“India needs a stable government when the world is going through turmoil and conflict,” Modi said.
“Reform, perform is our identity.”
The ruling saffron party has laid out a comprehensive legal agenda in its manifesto or the Sankalp Patra.
Notable pledges include the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), One Nation One Election, and Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
The Sankalp Patra refers to Article 44 of the Constitution which lists Uniform Civil Code (UCC) as one of the Directive Principles of State Policy.
The party has reiterated its stand to draw a UCC. Along with Ram temple at Ayodhya and abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the UCC was the third contentious poll promises of the BJP since its foundation in new avatar on April 6, 1980.
"BJP believes that there cannot be gender equality till such time Bharat adopts a Uniform Civil Code, which protects the rights of all women, and the BJP reiterates its stand to draw a Uniform Civil Code, drawing upon the best traditions and harmonising them with the modern times," the manifesto states.
The CAA, which had triggered large scale riots in Delhi in February 2020, had received the assent of the President of India on December 12, 2019, and was later notified in the gazette. The notification of the Rules effectively brought into force the Act.
The CAA and Rules aim to grant citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Parsis who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
Very recently, Uttarakhand became the first State to implement a UCC. The Code was passed by the State Assembly on February 7 before receiving the President's assent on February 13.
The Supreme Court is hearing a batch of around 236 petitions challenging CAA and the recently notified Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024.
Recently, CJI D Y Chandrachud has lauded the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
“These laws aim at digitising various aspects of criminal procedure. This is a significant step towards modernising the justice system.
From the initial registration of a first information report (FIR) to the final delivery of judgment, every stage of a criminal investigation is slated to be recorded digitally under the purview of the proposed legislation,” CJI said on April 1.
The ruling party has expressed its commitment to effective implementation of the new BNS -- criminal laws replacing IPC Codes - through training, online certificate courses, new curriculum in universities and law schools, and additional measures.
On December 12, 2023, Home Minister Amit Shah reintroduced the "latest" version of the three laws insisting that they were withdrawn and reintroduced to save effort that would have gone towards passing separate amendments. They were passed by the Lok Sabha on December 20 before being passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 21.
The three new laws are called Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill. Earlier, a parliamentary panel has scrutinised the laws.
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