The BJP will release its much-delayed manifesto “focusing on development” on April 7, the day when the first phase of polling starts in the North-East.
Ahead of the manifesto, the BJP will on Friday bring out a chargesheet against the UPA Government — which would be a compilation of charges against the Congress-led dispensation at the Centre. The charge-sheet, running into 45 to 50 pages, will “set the tone for a Congress Mukt Bharat”, said party spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman, who announced that date of release of the much awaited manifesto of the party.
The Congress has taken a dig at the BJP over the delay saying it reflects the deep personality clashes within the party which is not seeking a mandate for itself but for one individual (Modi).
The manifesto is being redone and pruned according to BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s directives with good governance and growth taking precedence over “the matter of faith”, according to sources.
Contentious issues such as Article 370, which accords special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya and a Uniform Civil Code required fine-tuning of views within the party, sources said.
Nevertheless, some differences of opinion among the party top brass besides the fact that one of the manifesto committee members Jaswant Singh having been expelled for his revolt also cast its shadow on the process, sources maintained.
The manifesto may spell out need to implement “progressive article” Uniform Civil Code, which has been “put on the back burner” since the time of first Prime Minister of the country Jawaharlal Nehru and take a fresh “positive look” at Article 370.
Modi during a public rally in Jammu on December one, last year, had called for examining whether the Article has “benefited” the common man or not and left his political diagnosis open-ended.
For its part, the BJP charge-sheet would be an all-out attack on the Congress-led Government not fulfiling their poll promises, Ministers breaking “oath of secrecy”, the Government failing to take steps to ensure internal security, misuse of the CBI irregularities in appointment of the CVC and Government attack on the CAG.
The charge-sheet would also pinpoint “UPA’s indifference” to the core issue of internal security and defence matters. It may also take note of Government’s “bungling” on Aadhar cards.
“Amount spent on Aadhar cards without linking it with the National Population register which allowed illegal residents in India to possess Aadhar Card”, said sources, saying chairman of UIDAI did not link the Aadhar Card with NPR and made it available to “any resident of India”.
As the BJP failed to bring the manifesto ahead of the start of the first phase of polls in the North-East, it released a statement on Thursday detailing the measures on security and development for the region undertaken by the NDA government. The measures included creation of a separate department of Development for North-East Region (DONER), set up in September 2001 and a provision of 10 per cent of the budget from each central ministry for expenditure in the region.