Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Telangana on Saturday, November 18, promised to form a committee on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) along with promises like the abolition of reservations based on religious quota and the delivery of ‘milk-yielding desi cows’ to willing small and marginal farmers for free.
Union home minister Amit Shah released the manifesto titled ‘Sakala Janula Saubhagya Telangana‘.
The manifesto also promises the reduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel to provide economic relief, a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court (SC) judge to probe into Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) led state government’s ‘corruption’ and ‘irregularities’ in the implementation of government schemes and policies.
The BJP also promised to deport all illegal immigrants including the Rohingyas in a ‘time-bound manner.’
In a plan for the city of Hyderabad, the saffron party promises to create a State Capital Region (SCR) in the lines of the National Capital Region (NCR) “to ensure planned and coordinated development of the suburban regions of Hyderabad.”
Abolition of reservations based on religion
The party also plans to abolish reservations based on religious grounds, which it deems unconstitutional, and reallocate them to BCs, SCs, and STs. At present, Telangana is providing a quota of 4 percent to Muslims.
The BJP also promised to set up to draft a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), with a special focus on expediting the sub-categorisation within the Scheduled Castes (SC) to uplift the most disadvantaged sections.
On ‘Grooming’
BJP also promised to take “adequate measures to control the increasing cases of targeted grooming” by creating robust mechanisms at a community level both in villages and cities.
“The perpetrators of grooming will be meted out with severe punishment,” it said.
The ‘grooming’ reference is regarding the party’s stance on the right-wing conspiracy of ‘love jihad,’
Love jihad is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory propagated by right-wing activists. The conspiracy theory alleges that Muslim men target Hindu women by means such as seduction, feigning love, deception, kidnapping, and marriage, as part of a broader demographic ‘war’ by Muslims against India,
The party even though avoided the direct mention of the term, wants to take forward a policy on the matter if it comes to power in the state.
On Hyderabad ‘liberation’
The party also promises to officially commemorate September 17 as the ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ every year and also observe August 27 annually as the ‘Razakar Horrors Remembrance Day’ to “pay homage to the martyrs of Bairanpally and Parkal.”
It also vowed to establish a museum and a memorial in Hyderabad, “to document the brave struggle of the people of Telangana against the Razakars and the Nizams.”
‘Meebhoomi’ in place of Dharani
Addressing the issue of land ownership and administration, the manifesto outlines plans to dismantle the current Dharani system and introduce ‘Meebhoomi’, another web portal system promising a ‘transparent’ mechanism in land governance.
Additionally, the BJP has promised a special nodal ministry is proposed to ensure the seamless execution of central government schemes.
The manifesto also promises to protect the interests of Telangana’s Gulf residents by establishing a dedicated department for their welfare. Moreover, it guarantees timely disbursement of salaries to employees and pensions to pensioners by the 1st of each month.
This apart, the manifesto promises 4 free gas cylinders annually to all Ujjwala beneficiaries and free medical treatment up to 10 lakhs to eligible families in government and private hospitals.
Some more promises
- Creation of 10 lakh job opportunities for women, aiming to boost female employment.
- Yearly health checkups for the financially weak to ensure their well-being.
- Issuance of new ration cards for food security.
- Provision of an additional Rs 2500 input assistance on top of the central fertiliser subsidy.
- A Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 3100 for paddy to support the farmers.
- Development of Nizamabad as a ‘turmeric city’ to boost regional agriculture and trade.
- Biannual conduct of TSPSC exams akin to UPSC to enhance recruitment transparency.
- Establishment of Nodal Schools in every Mandal for educational development.
- Scrutiny of private school fees to prevent exploitation and ensure affordability.
- Distribution of house site titles to all eligible poor in villages.
Telangana is going to the polls on November 30.
