India’s Preamble to the Constitution calls it a “sovereign, socialist, secular” nation. The BJP’s manifesto, or ‘Sankalp Patra’, released on Sunday for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections looks like a balance between two Indias – a socialist India, which needs hand-holding, and an India that’s aspiring to be the next global power.
The manifesto talks about empowering ‘lakhpati didis’ and giving free ration to the poor while aspiring to be the next superpower that will call the shots.
‘Modi ki guarantee’
While BJP national president JP Nadda spoke about how India’s abject poverty has almost been diminished, the saffron party also acknowledges that the country largely has poor and lower middle classes that need basic survival and housing.
So, the first promise in the BJP manifesto, which is marketed as ‘Modi ki guarantee’ is free ration for the next five years under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana. The central government has already fed 80 crore Indians since 2020. This mega promise will be continued for the next five years.
The inclusion of free and quality medical treatment under Ayushman Bharat, slum redevelopment and free electricity to poor households under PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana reflects a socialist outlook. The manifesto also targets lower middle classes with the promise of housing for all economically weaker sections by expanding the PM Awas Yojana, which has already delivered 4 crore homes. It promises to make three crore rural women ‘lakhpati didi’.
The economy alone has not been a metric this time but age and sex as well. “The BJP has decided to bring the transgender community under the ambit of the Ayushman Bharat scheme. It has resolved that elderly persons above the age of 70 years will be brought under the ambit of the health scheme,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stressing that even those belonging to the upper middle classes will reap the benefit.
The ‘Vishwaguru’ promise
The manifesto also reflects the BJP’s aspirations for India’s foreseeable future, where the country becomes a superpower, or in his language, ‘Vishwaguru’. High on a successful G20 presidency last year, India wants to host the world’s biggest sporting event – the Olympics – in 2036.
After the massive success of Chandrayaan-3, the BJP has promised to land an astronaut on the moon in the ‘Amrit Kaal’ in the next 25 years. The prime minister has also given the “guarantee” of establishing a space station (Bharatiya Antariksha Station) and would “also operationalise a second launch complex for the country”.
“We are constructing the first bullet train corridor in the country,” the manifesto reads, while adding that feasibility studies will be launched for similar corridors in the north, south and west to expand the project.
With 6G, expansion of water metro or energy independence by 2047, all the ingredients of an India that is up for the big league finds a mention in the manifesto. Be it making India the largest hub of lab-grown diamonds or a global leader in electric vehicles, it talks about being a superpower. The manifesto has also promised to make India “one of the global majors” in chip manufacturing while also talking about India becoming a global hub of rail and aviation manufacturing, flexing its economic muscle to become a $3 trillion economy.
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