‘Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat’

Party promises to reverse ‘decade of decay,’ bring back credibility, trust in government, and resow confidence in ‘India Story’

New Delhi: Committing itself to ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat’ (One India, Great India), the BJP Election Manifesto has pushed its hardcore Hindutva agenda to the backburner, by relegating the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Article 370, Uniform Civil Code, Ram Sethu, Ganga and cow-slaughter ban to the last page.

The Manifesto released by the BJP, on the first day of the polling, carries the imprint of BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who is keen to be projected as a leader of modern India, whose main concern is to bring about a change from the ‘Decade of Decay.’ It has listed price rise, unemployment, corruption, blackmoney etc as the areas, which will be dealt with on priority basis.

Since Modi happens to be a blue-eyed boy of the RSS, he has incorporated all the Hindutva issues in the Manifesto with Manifesto Committee Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi explaining that their inclusion was necessitated as the BJP believes in ‘Cultural Nationalism.’ The BJP reiterated its resolve to explore all possibilities within the framework of the Constitution to facilitate the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. It also pledged to repeal Article 370 of the Constitution granting special status to J&K and draft a Uniform Civil Code for "gender equality."

With Modi being projected as the messiah of the poor and the youth, whose advent would eliminate poverty and create new jobs, the Manifesto has listed price rise as the number one issue, followed by employment and entrepreneurship. Promising to create public awareness that will eliminate corruption, the BJP has promised to simplify tax-regime and bring about technology-enabled e-governance. It vowed to initiate the process of tracking down and bringing back black money, slashed away in foreign banks and offshore accounts.

At the release function, Narendra Modi declared, "I will do nothing for myself. I will not do anything with ill-intent." The Manifesto talks about reforming the system by bringing "Good Governance that would be transparent, effective, involving and encouraging." Focusing on the theme of "India first," it explained that the only philosophy and religion of the government should be India First, the only epic of a government should be India's Constitution, the only power of a government should be the power of the people, the only prayer of a government should be the welfare of its people and only way of a government should be "Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas (Support of all, development of all)."

Charging the UPA government with slowing the process of economic growth by string of scandals, the BJP promised to reverse this process by bringing back credibility and trust in government, re-sowing confidence in the India Story domestically as well as internationally. It promised to lay a tax policy roadmap, which will provide a non-adversarial and conducive tax environment, rationalize and simply the tax regime, overhaul the dispute resolution mechanism, bring on board all State governments in adopting GST and provide tax incentives for investments in research and development, geared towards indigenization of technology and innovation.

Barring in the multi-brand retail sector, the BJP has promised to allow FDI in sectors like jobs and assets-creation, infrastructure and acquisition of niche technology and specialized expertise. "The BJP is committed to protecting the interest of small and medium retailers, SMEs and those employed by them. The FIPB’s (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) functioning shall be made more efficient and investor-friendly," it stated.

It promised to revive Brand India with the help of the strengths of 5 Ts: Tradition, Talent, Tourism, Trade and Technology. The BJP will adopt proactive diplomacy to spread the same. It said that it would revise India's nuclear doctrine to make it relevant to challenges of current times.

The Manifesto concluded by saying that Platinum Jubilee year of Indian Independence in 2022 will be celebrated as Amrit Mahotsav. "For us, every day and every step, every journey and every process will be dedicated to make Amritmay Bharat," stated the BJP.