Lok Sabha elections: BJP to release manifesto 2019, focus on poor, national security

The BJP on Monday will release its “Sankalp Patra” or manifesto for the Lok Sabha election 2019 with the focus on issues of development and national security, days after the Congress party promised a slew of measures, especially for the poor in the country.

Members of the BJP’s parliamentary board, its apex body, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its chief Amit Shah will be present at the launch of the manifesto in New Delhi.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to make a slew of promises to woo different sections of the society, especially farmers, youth and women, besides the poor after the Congress gave welfare measures, including a promise of giving Rs 72,000 to the poorest 20% households in India, a major thrust as part of its poll promise.

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Sunday unveiled campaign themes and other materials of the party’s election campaign, with “Phir ek baar, Modi sarkar (Modi government, once more)” as the tag line.

The BJP had said in January this year that it will crowdsource its manifesto for the Lok Sabha election 2019. It had also said it will hold events across the country over the next few months to get inputs from different sets of voters for the purpose.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh-led manifesto committee of the BJP had decided to form 15 sub-panels to reach out to the different group of voters like farmers, youth, women, businessmen and others.

The 20-member manifesto committee included Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Nirmala Sitharaman, Thaawarchand Gehlot, Piyush Goyal, and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. It also had former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bihar’s deputy chief minister Sushil Modi, his Uttar Pradesh counterpart, Keshav Prasad Maurya, among its members.

With agency inputs

BJP