The just-launched BJP manifesto is mostly gas on national security and Jammu and Kashmir. This doesn’t mean that there is a lack of intention on the part of BJP throughout this document. Some parts of this manifesto are doable while many others are plainly unimplementable, and the party surely knows it.
BJP manifesto on Jammu and Kashmir
I will repeat what I said earlier- the party either doesn’t understand Jammu and Kashmir or is plainly hoodwinking people on this issue.
For example, Narendra Modi says that Article 35 A must go because it stops the development of Jammu Kashmir. Nice idea, Sir ji. But how will you remove this article? Assuming that the NDA returns to power after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP will have to share power with Nitish Kumar of JD (U), a staunch supporter of Muslims. Do you think he will easily agree to this idea? Of course, not! At best, Article 35A would remain a talking point for the BJP and its supporters.
Mr. Modi, in order to cancel article 35A, you would need a very strong majority in the Lok and Rajya Sabha.
That scenario looks unlikely now because various opinion polls say that the NDA would post anywhere between 279 to 300 seats in the 2019 polls. And, we aren’t even talking about your future loss in numbers in the Rajya Sabha because of the recent reverses in MP, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh.
Talk is cheap on national security
Mr. Modi, there is much, much more to India’s security than just AFSPA and Pakistan. Sorry to say, but your advisers have succeeded in fooling you that stone pelters and Pakistan pose the greatest threat to India’s security.
Why doesn’t the BJP manifesto talk about the millions of Bangladeshis who have silently invaded our country? Don’t they pose a threat to not just our internal security but also our demographics? What’s your stand on that? Ah, come to think of it, in the last 5 years of your rule, the government has just managed to deport only a few thousand Bangladeshis from India ! As a tax-paying citizen, I am astonished that these millions of intruders are taking away our jobs, lands, and identity but the BJP government has nothing to say on this issue! Sorry, Mr. Modi, but don’t consider us to be brainless bhakts who forget your poll promises after every five years.
“You have to decide whether you will continue to tolerate Bangladeshi harassment or put an end to it. I have come to you for your answer. Trust me and as soon as we come to power we will take immediate steps to redress these problems and ensure that justice prevails,” this is what you had said in 2014!
Promises to stop illegal immigration, detect illegal immigrants, delete their names from electoral rolls, and deport them form the weakest link in
Mr. Kanchan Gupta @KanchanGupta ex-adviser to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the Bangladeshi issue#BJP narrative. 5 years nothing has been done. Rohingya in Jammu. More Bangladeshis in India today than in 2014. Worse border patrol.
Ram Temple- lies, lies, and more lies
You rode to power in 2014 on the back of the Ram Temple movement. ‘Mandir Vahin Banayenge’ was your war cry and everyone in UP believed you. Yogi Adityanath won the UP polls largely because you made us believe that only a BJP with a brute majority can build grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
All these 5 years, Modi ji, your party made absolutely no effort in this direction. Your party is not even a party in this legal matter that has been hanging in the Supreme Court for the last 8 years! Why Modi ji, why? And now , your BJP manifesto promises to build the temple according to the constitutional provisions! For all these 5 years, you had a thumping majority in the Lok Sabha and the UP Vidhan Sabha, but you did nothing.
Where are the jobs, Modi ji?
We don’t expect the moon from you, Modiji, but please help us in getting jobs. Where are they? Your BJP manifesto perhaps thinks that selling pakodas means doing decent jobs. But Modiji, the young and the restless want good jobs so that they can lead an affordable lifestyle. Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, Sir. For starting up a new company, you need a sizeable work experience plus a decent corpus. If you have neither of these, how can you expect to spark a start-up culture in India?
What are you doing about Pollution, Modi Ji?
As a citizen of Delhi, I strongly feel about the city’s pollution and the unwillingness of our leaders to do something about it. We have so many agencies on pollution control but there is nothing to show for results.
Every year during November and December, the national capital becomes a big gas chamber. People don’t venture outside their houses in the mornings because bad air would choke them. The elderlies are the ones who are most affected by the city’s pollution. During these months, the central and State governments start putting up tamashas to impress the world about their seriousness toward pollution. But nothing happens.
Elsewhere in the country, villages are becoming increasingly dirty. Small and mid-size towns are competing with the Delhis and Mumbais in polluting their air. Alas, no party is interested in cleaning up our waters, air and soil.
I wish the BJP manifesto spoke about this issue as well. After all, we are losing 2.5 million Indians to bad air every year.
Reforming the judiciary
During the 2014 election, you had promised to fill up the vacant seats in the judiciary. What has happened since then? Precious little.
We’d appreciate if the third leg of our democracy was reformed quickly. Cases need to be resolved quickly and there should be fewer court holidays.
It is the poor people who are more affected by our ineffective judiciary.
My final thoughts on the BJP manifesto
Modi Ji, we will still vote you because there is no alternative to your leadership presently in India. We like you because of your focus, and execution skills. You set targets for your government to achieve and most of the time, they are met. We are sure that by 2022, all the 75 targets that you have set will be achieved. But, we also need to clean up our public life urgently. As the Prime Minister of this country, it is your duty to ensure that the Vadras, Chidambarams, and the Gandhis go to places which they deserve. We’ve had enough of these money-hungry guys.