Maha Polls: BJP Releases Manifesto; Promises 1 Crore Jobs; Bharat Ratna Demand For Savarkar, Phule

The party also ensured that electricity based on solar energy will be used in agriculture in the next five years.

Image: ANI

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its manifesto on Tuesday, for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections scheduled on October 21. The manifesto or the ‘Sankalp Patra’, was released in the presence of BJP’s working president JP Nadda and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis. Among the key highlights of the manifesto was creation of 1 crore jobs in the next five years and provision of special employment opportunities by connection of 1 crore families with women savings group. The manifesto also underlined Bharat Ratna demand for Jyotiba Phule, Savitri Bai Phule, and Savarkar. It also promised availability of  sanitary napkin at Re 1 for women. The permanent dry part of the western state shall receive via Krishna the excess water flowing in Koyna and other rivers, the party announced. It also ensured that electricity based on solar energy will be used in agriculture in the next five years. It also seeks to ensure provision of clean drinking water to all households by 2022. Creation of an autonomous body to oversee road construction and investment of Rs 5 lakh crore in infrastructure projects have also been promised by the party in its manifesto. The BJP is contesting elections in alliance with Shiv Sena. However, due to differences between the two parties, they decided to come up with separate manifestos. Shiv Sena, which launched its manifesto on  Saturday, announced a 10-fold hike - Rs 10 for a hearty and nutritious plate of food at 1,000 eateries - as part of its Manifesto for a 'bright Maharashtra', here on Saturday. Besides the promised healthy diet, the Sena will also take care of public health by proposing a comprehensive 200-tests medical checkup for only Re 1. The Sena has promised concessional electricity rates of up to 30 per cent for consumption below 300 units and low-cost fertilizers for farmers, and an independent aid of Rs 10,000 per farmer to ensure that one is covered under the crop insurance scheme against the existing policy of farmers getting compensation only when the whole village is affected. The NDA alliance is squaring off against the Congress-NCP combine in the crucial contest characterised by defections from the Opposition camp. The contest also has the undertone of the BJP battling for supremacy over the Sena, which considers itself as the "elder brother" in the state politics. In 2014 polls, the BJP and the Sena had contested separately and won 122 seats and 63 seats, respectively, out of the total 288.