BJP likely to release party manifesto for 18th Lok Sabha polls this week: Report

As the date of the 18th Lok Sabha polls inches closer, BJP may release the party manifesto this week with the draft of the copy being ready, according to media reports. The theme of the saffron party's poll pitch is likely to incorporate major promises on welfare of poor and farmers and focus on women and jobs for youth.

The 27-member election manifesto committee, headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has met together on various occasions to discuss the reportedly crowd-sourced inputs received from across the country.

ET Online has not verified the report independently.


The road map for the government's 'Viksit Bharat' agenda took centre stage at the first meeting of the BJP's election manifesto committee, ET reported quoting its sources earlier.

Possible promises of BJP:
The manifesto of the ruling BJP could be themed around 'Modi ki guarantee' and 'Viksit Bharat,' party insiders said to ET. The poll pitch is based on 3.75 lakh suggestions through its missed call service and nearly 1.70 lakh on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's app, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who is also part of the party's manifesto.

Addressing the press conference in New Delhi on Monday, after the meeting of the committee, Goyal said the road map for Viksit Bharat by 2047 was discussed in the meeting. "People's enthusiastic participation for our manifesto shows their trust in the prime minister and their expectations from him," he said.

Goyal added that inputs were collected through a 35-day drive where 916 video vans were sent to over 300 constituencies. Suggestions were also received from trade and industry associations, he said.

Headed by Rajnath Singh, BJP's manifesto committee includes Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as the convener and several other Union ministers, the chief ministers of states such as Gujarat, Assam and Madhya Pradesh, and seasoned hands like Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje are members.

The biggest party in opposition, Congress, has already released its manifesto 'Nyay Patra' which includes promises such as constitutional amendment to raise the Supreme Court mandated 50 per cent cap on reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) among others.

The voting for the Lok Sabha polls will begin on April 19 and the results will be declared on June 4, 2024, said ECI. The term of the 17th Lok Sabha assembly will expire on June 16, 2024.