INDIA’S prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday (8) sought to woo Hindu voters and farmers with an election manifesto he hopes will help him seal a second term in office.
Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) outlined its key policies in the document released with fanfare in New Delhi, balancing nationalist policies with development talk, three days before elections begin.
The party said it was committed to building a grand temple for Lord Ram "as soon as possible in a harmonious way" and pass a citizenship bill that would grant Indian nationality to Hindus from neighbouring countries.
The conflict over whether a temple or a mosque should be constructed in the holy city of Ayodhya is a major flashpoint between Hindus and India's sizeable Muslim minority.
Under fire from the opposition Congress party for not doing enough for India's struggling farmers, the party said it would infuse more than $300 billion for rural development.
It would also extend an annual handout of Rs 6,000 ($86) and introduced a pension scheme for small and marginal farmers.
"Nationalism is our inspiration ... good governance is our mantra," Modi, 68, said at the launch.
"It (the manifesto) is multi-layered and multi-dimensional because our society is very diverse. We can't have a one-size-fits-all kind of policy. It addresses the needs of all sections of society."
The party also said it would scrap a historic law providing special rights to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir, a move that is likely to spike tension in the tinderbox state.
Modi's BJP has consistently advocated ending Kashmir's special constitutional status, which prevents outsiders from buying property in the state, arguing that such laws have hindered its integration with the rest of the country.
"We believe that Article 35A is an obstacle in the development of the state," the BJP manifesto said, referring to the 1954 amendment to the constitution.
Political leaders in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where India is fighting an armed insurgency against its rule, have warned that repealing the law would lead to widespread unrest.
The party also pledged to simplify the goods and services tax, which disrupted businesses and hurt economic growth when Modi introduced it in 2017.
The NJP would work towards lowering the tax rate and raise credit to small businesses to Rs 1 trillion ($14.39 billion) by 2024, it further said in the manifesto.
The BJP manifesto comes on the heels of a similar document released by Congress last week which promised to "create wealth and guarantee welfare" to India's 1.3 billion people.
Congress had announced Rs 72,000 ($1,045) each to India's poorest 250 million families.
Recent opinion polls, although notoriously unreliable, suggest Congress is trailing BJP ahead of India's mega-election running from April 11 to May 19.
The BJP, which decimated Congress as it swept to power in 2014, has been riding a nationalistic wave, vowing to protect the country against Pakistan-backed "terrorism".
In February, India and Pakistan faced off in their worst confrontation in years over Kashmir, conducting tit-for-tat airstrikes.
"This manifesto has been prepared with strong nationalist vision ... it is rooted in India's realities," said finance minister Arun Jaitley.
The Congress Party is seeking alliances with regional parties to thwart Modi.
(AFP, Reuters)
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