BJP manifesto likely in April first week

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party is planning to release its manifesto in the first week of April, days ahead of the first phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections on April 11, and avoid a 2014-like situation when the manifesto was released only on the morning of the first day of polling for the first phase.

Bringing the manifesto early is a “special focus” this time, and that is why home minister Rajnath Singh was put in-charge of the manifesto committee, a party functionary told ET. All sub-committees set up by the BJP to provide inputs for the manifesto submitted their reports to Singh on Monday. Suggestions from citizens received in the boxes on the 300-plus video raths crisscrossing the country and feedback received through other means like emails and public meeting-level consultations in all states are expected to be in by the end of March. The suggestions that have come in so far indicate to a road-map for the growth of the economy, farmer’s welfare and national security being the cornerstone of the manifesto, and a future course to be laid out in terms of a vision for the middleclass and youth.

The ‘Make in India’ in defence sector is also expected to be a major point in the manifesto. The government’s vision of tackling terrorism, strengthening the armed forces and the plan for further employment generation is also expected to be the highlights of the BJP manifesto, apart from an important suggestions received by the party for rationalisation of income tax and corporate tax.


A “bigger” PM Kisan Nidhi Samman scheme in terms of the payout amount is a key suggestion received by the BJP during the manifesto exercise so far.