BJP poll manifesto captures growth mantra in just two of 43 pages

The two pages - nine and 10 -are from the chapter titled 'Towards a New India'

To get an idea of the Narendra Modi government’s vision for the next five years, in case it comes back to power, one only needs to look at two pages of its manifesto, Business Standard has learnt from sources.

The two pages — nine and 10 of the 43-page manifesto — are from a chapter titled ‘Towards a New India’. 

This chapter is important as it is the only part of the document that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley helped draft, and which was vetted multiple times by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah and the Prime Minister himself.

“The ideas in the manifesto have been sourced from supporters, party workers, sister organisations and members of the civil society from across the country. However, that chapter is the one which has the personal imprint of the Prime Minister and the party’s top leadership,” said a person involved in the making of the manifesto.

“The chapter will serve as a vision statement for the government over the next five years, if voted back to power,” the person said. The chapter also summarises what is laid out in details in the rest of the manifesto.

Some key points in the chapter stand out. They stresses on continuity of existing reforms as well as new initiatives. “In the next five years, we promise to create growth opportunities for all citizens in every aspect of life. ‘Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas’ remains our guiding principle. We intend to reach out to a developed future while retaining our civilisational roots,” the chapter says.

The chapter states in order to achieve long-term goals, the country needs to be secured against internal and external aggression. To that end, it promises to equip India’s security apparatus with all the necessary tools, increase the strength of diplomatic and allied cadres, and also build on the ‘Make in India in Defence’ initiative to boost domestic arms production. “We intend to accelerate the pace of providing access to basic amenities such as housing, electricity, toilet, cooking gas, and health/social security to every poor Indian household, rural and urban, in the next five years and bring the percentage of population below the poverty line to single digits,” it says.

The chapter also commits to simplifying and lowering tax rates. “An important aspect of the ease of doing business is the ability to enforce contracts and resolve disputes. Therefore, we promise to significantly increase capacity of the legal system within five years in partnership/co-ordination with the judiciary,” it states.

The source clarified that this meant widespread judicial reforms after discussions with the judiciary. “Judicial reforms are at the heart of everything that the Prime Minister hopes to do in the next five years. Even pending initiatives like land reforms cannot be carried forward until judicial reforms happen,” the source added. The chapter states that if elected back to power, the government plans to build 60,000 kilometers of national highways, connect all villages with roads, operationalise 100 new airports, modernise 400 railway stations, and cover 50 cities with metro networks.

The chapter promises to give special focus to tourism and make it the cornerstone of the services economy. 

The BJP says it will make sure that all UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India have facilities of international standards and will also identify and promote specific sites of cultural/natural importance as a national priority. “We reiterate our stand to explore all possibilities within the framework of the Constitution to facilitate the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. At the same time, we will expeditiously complete the National Registration of Citizens in Assam and actively consider its extension to other states,” the chapter states.

Modi administration’s five-year vision

• Increase strength of diplomatic corps

• Boost indigenous defence manufacturing

• Bring poverty down to single digits as percentage of population

• Widespread judicial reforms

• Sustained infrastructure push

• Reducing cost of capital

• Make tourism the cornerstone of service sector