Nagender Singh
Shimla, Nov 6
Displaying no concerns for the burning poll issue of Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for the government employees, the BJP in Himachal Pradesh unveiled its manifesto promising to implement the contentious Uniform Civil Code (UCC) among Muslims besides providing 8 lakhs jobs for the unemployed youth in the state. If voted to power, the BJP also declared giving 33 percent reservation for women in government jobs.
Despite only 2.18 percent Muslims in Himachal Pradesh,the saffron party also committed to carry out surveys on the Waqf board properties to check the illegal usage if any.
These two contentious issues are part of the national agenda of the BJP to win the majority votes in the poll.
The Sankalp Patra, as the manifesto is called by the BJP, was released by BJP president JP Nadda incorporating 11 commitments.
The national BJP president J P Nadda said, “The BJP will launch a programme called Shakti to develop infrastructure and transportation and religious temples and places will be connected by roads to develop pilgrimage circuits.”
“All Himachali villages will be connected through pucca roads and all-weather roads. CM Anna Datta Scheme, 3000 will be added and over 9 lakh farmers will benefit. In a boost to the local market and small-scale industries, the BJP government would levy a 12% tax on apple packaging and additional GST will be paid by the state government. Five new medical colleges will beestablished and mobile clinic vans are to be doubled,” endorsed Nadda.
For the developing entrepreneurship among the jobless youth, the BJP president also added, “The BJP-led government would provide for a startup unit with a corpus of Rs 900 crore for the youth of the state.”
“Ex-gratia to soldier brothers and compensation to martyrs’ next of kin will be increased. Discrepancies in remuneration of the government employees will be removed and hiked too,” the BJP president declared.
Displaying a special concern for the hill-women, Nadda says, “We also promise a 33% reservation for women in government jobs, with an increase in money for girls for marriage from earlier Rs 31,000, to Rs 51,000. Besides this, we will provide school girls, between classes 6 and 12, with bicycles along with interest-free loans for women entrepreneurs. Three free LPG cylinders for poor women. Poor families will be enrolled in Atal Pension Yojana. BJP will build up a mechanism to provide cheap fodder facilities to animals to ease women of this economic difficulty.”
Appreciating the manifesto of the BJP, the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said, “We have delivered all the promises made in the last manifesto in 2017 and given many other benefits to the people of the state over and above the manifesto. For the next 5 years too, if our government is voted to power, we have made all those promises which are deliverable unlike the Congress party. We will do resource mobilization to fulfill our commitments made in the manifesto which is designed for all-round development of all sections of the society.”
Himachal Pradesh will go to the assembly poll a week later on November 12 and the entire state is dotted by the presence of national and state BJP leaders including central and state Ministers from across the country. The people of Himachal Pradesh vote in and vote out two parties – BJP and Congress, alternatively, for the last 3 decades displaying a seasoned democratic character and mature thinking on the political landscape of the country.
