BJP Releases ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’ Manifesto, Congress Calls It Apology; Manifesto Copy Appended

New Delhi: The BJP released its much-awaited manifesto for the Lok Sabha election this morning, underlining Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on ‘GYAN’ – the poor, the youth, farmers and the women.

With a bust of BR Ambedkar and the Constitution on stage, the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP chief JP Nadda released the party’s manifesto at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.

The Prime Minister said the manifesto focus on four pillars of Viksit Bharat — women power, youth power, farmers and the poor. He said it focuses on the “dignity of life” and the “quality of life”, the quantity of opportunity as well as the quality of opportunity. The government will focus on taking piped gas to all homes and providing free electricity through solar power, the Prime Minister said.

The manifesto said the Centre’s free ration scheme will be extended by 5 years. The government, it said, will focus on self-reliance in production of pulses, edible oils and vegetables to stabilise price and protect the poor’s plates. Ayushman Bharat scheme and the PM Awas Yojana will be expanded and drinking water supply will be taken to every home, it said.

For the farmers, the BJP manifesto said it will continue to provide the annual assistance of ₹ 6,000 and will strengthen the crop insurance scheme through use of technology. The document said the government will continue periodic hikes in Minimum Support Price for crops, set up new clusters for production of essentials and build more storage facilities.

Addressing the media, Mr Nadda gave a rundown of the BJP government’s achievements over the past decade in power. He reiterated that ‘Modi ki guarantee’ — the BJP’s key poll slogan — “is a guarantee that all guarantees will be fulfilled”.

In a sharp response to the BJP’s manifesto, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said it should be called a ‘Sankalp Patra’ but a maafinama — an apology. “In 2014, they said they will constitute a taskforce to bring black money back, but what they brought is electoral bond. Instead of the government making Smart Cities, China is making smart cities inside our boundaries,” he said.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the BJP’s policy is to lie so loudly that people believe it to be the truth. She said the BJP’s manifesto does not even mention the ethnic violence in Manipur and the protests in Ladakh.

A copy of the Manifesto is appended hereby.