Bangalore : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released a 19-point manifesto ahead of the May 5 Assembly elections, promising rice at Re. 1 for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families if voted to power.

The party had promised rice at Rs. 2 before the previous elections in 2008 and made efforts to rush through its implementation just before the 2013 elections. However, model code of conduct came in the way of its implementation.

Senior party leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley released the manifesto which makes promises for all sections of society, in the presence of party State unit president Pralhad Joshi, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and party’s national secretary Ananth Kumar.
Free laptop

The 39-page manifesto promises to provide 25 kg of rice at Re.1 a kg for BPL families. It also promises free laptop and tablets to PU and graduate students, free Internet facility at government schools and colleges.

The manifesto also promises to extend skill development training to over 10 lakh youths and generating employment opportunities for them.

The manifesto called “Vikasa” (Development) also promises life insurance to all BPL families and crop insurance scheme at village and unit level.

The party assured the electorate of extending Sakala to all government services for effective implementation of the e-governance in all government departments.

For women, it offers Karnataka Women Rights Commission, 50 per cent of reservation for women in local bodies, training and establishment of help centres to ensure their safety and secur*ity. It offers special education and skill development programmes for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, backward classes communities, generation of employment, and creation of housing facility.

For farming sector, Vikasa offers completion of existing irrigation projects and launching of fresh ones and extending solar power for agriculture pump sets.

 Solid waste

To address issue solid waste management, which haunted the BJP government, the party planned to set up Municipal Solid Waste Management Authority for “environment protection and waste processing.”

The document also promises setting up of Bangalore Environmental Corporation for “preserving ecology, environment and lakes around Bangalore.”

D.B. Chandre Gowda, president of the manifesto committee, claimed that the party had kept 85 per cent of promises made in 2008 and failed to provide good governance because of political problems. Mr. Shettar asserted that election code of conduct came in the way of keeping the promise on distributing rice at Rs. 2 a kg.-The Hindu