New Delhi: Free education for girls from economically disadvantaged families (from kindergarten to post graduation), LPG cylinders at Rs 450 apiece, 2.5 lakh jobs over the next five years, ‘anti-Romeo’ squads to curb eve-teasing and a ‘gangster task force’ to clamp down on ‘anti-India’ activities. These are among the commitments the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made in its poll manifesto for Rajasthan.
It has also promised to set up an agricultural infrastructure mission with an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore, an investment of Rs 40,000 crore on public health infrastructure, the addition of 6,000 MBBS seats, a ‘women police desk’ in every police station across the state and a women’s police station in each district.
Unveiled Thursday by party president J.P. Nadda, the manifesto also mentions the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe paper leaks and other ‘scams’, besides a commitment to procure wheat at ‘bonus prices’ over and above the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
Other commitments include a promise to provide college-goers with Rs 1,200 as a monthly travel allowance through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). In addition to its commitment to increasing the monthly pension for the elderly and the specially-abled to Rs 1,500, the party has also promised to bring out a white paper on corruption during Gehlot’s tenure.
आपणो अग्रणी राजस्थान का संकल्प पत्र।#AgraniRajasthanKaSankalp pic.twitter.com/TSg3QyFzZR
— BJP Rajasthan (@BJP4Rajasthan) November 16, 2023
Voting for elections to the state’s 200 assembly seats will be held in a single phase on 25 November, followed by the counting of votes on 3 December.
Speaking at the launch of the ‘Sankalp Patra’, Nadda said the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in the state is “number one” in terms of corruption and crimes against women. “Rajasthan government has become a symbol for paper leaks and Ashok Gehlot the face of this corruption. We (BJP) want a double-engine government in the state,” he said.
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Scooty after Class 12, ‘anti-Romeo’ squads
For its Rajasthan ‘Sankalp Patra’, the BJP took a cue from Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Yogi Adityanath — its chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh respectively — by incorporating elements of the former’s Ladli Behna Yojana and the latter’s playbook to curb crimes against women in its manifesto.
It has promised to furnish a savings bond of Rs 2 lakh at the time of the birth of a girl child, a Scooty to each girl after Class 12 and upskilling for six lakh women, besides Rs 8,000 as financial assistance for pregnant women under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.
MSP for millets & Rs 4,000 cr for health infra
In its manifesto, the BJP said it will ensure MSP for millets and procurement of wheat at Rs 2,700 per quintal, in addition to setting up a government agency to promote millets. It has also promised free education to children of marginalised farmers, if voted to power in the state.
On health, the BJP said it will allocate Rs 4,000 crore for development of public health infrastructure under the Bhamashah Yojna launched by the previous Vasundhara Raje government, set up 350 new Jan Aushadhi Kendra (outlets for sale of generic medicine at subsidised prices) and create 15,000 new jobs for doctors and 20,000 for paramedics.
‘Smart Cities’ & heritage tourism
The BJP has affirmed its commitment to organising a Rajasthan investment summit, setting up industrial corridors and constituting a task force to oversee the development of new expressways.
It has also promised to set up a Rajasthan Institute of Technology and Rajasthan Institute of Medical Sciences, on the lines of IIT and AIIMS, if voted to power in the state.
A commitment to develop Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota, Ajmer, Jodhpur and Bharatpur as ‘Smart Cities’ also found mention in the manifesto.
LIVE : जयपुर स्थित भाजपा मीडिया सेंटर से राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष श्री @JPNadda द्वारा विधानसभा चुनाव संकल्प-पत्र 2023(राजस्थान) का विमोचन।#AgraniRajasthanKaSankalp https://t.co/ibFNU9u6k0
— BJP Rajasthan (@BJP4Rajasthan) November 16, 2023
Further, the party has promised to allocate Rs 2,000 crore for the development of a tourism circuit and another Rs 800 crore to promote heritage tourism in the state, in addition to developing Ajmer, Hadoti and Bikaner as regional heritage centres and setting up a museum dedicated to Jyotirao Phule and a heritage tourism site at Mangarh Dham.
Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, chairman of the BJP’s manifesto committee for Rajasthan, said the ‘Sankalp Patra’ was drafted after taking into account suggestions of more than one crore voters either through the party’s outreach programmes or social media.
Though the Congress is yet to unveil its manifesto for Rajasthan, it has already declared its seven guarantees: Rs 10,000 as annual financial aid for women from economically disadvantaged families, LPG cylinders at Rs 500 apiece for one crore households, free laptops for first-year students enrolled in government colleges, procurement of cow dung at Rs 2 per kilo, calamity insurance of Rs 15 lakh for beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Yojana, school education in English medium and a pledge to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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