Day ahead of voting in Gujarat, BJP releases manifesto

AHMEDABAD: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released its poll manifesto for the upcoming Gujarat Elections 2017.

The manifesto titled 'Sankalp Patra 2017' was released by Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley here.

After releasing the manifesto, Jaitley briefed the media and accused the Congress of making fall promises on the issue of reservation for the Patidar community.

Releasing the BJP`s poll agenda a day before the state votes in the first of the two-phase election on Saturday, Jaitley took a dig at the Congress saying its promise of reservation for Patidars was "politics of damage" for Gujarat.

"Social polarisation in Gujarat will be politics of damage for the state and if the Congress moves in that path it will cause harm to the state," Jaitley told reporters.

Hitting out at the Congress for criticising BJP rule in the state, Jaitley said, "Gujarat’s growth rate is highest in India. In the last five years, the state grew at an average rate of 10 percent large states." 

"Congress's vision for Gujarat is based on constitutional impossibility and financial improbability," the senior BJP leader alleged.

Congress on December 4 released its manifesto for the state assembly elections in Gujarat and said its main focus is providing relief and support to farmers in the state.

The Congress promised that without affecting the present 49 percent reservation for scheduled castes and tribes as well as Other backward classes, the party's government will introduce a bill in the assembly at the earliest under Article 46 of the Constitution.

Besides, social polarisation would only hurt the Congress, he added.

Gujarat has a total number of 182 assembly seats and the polling will be held in two phases.

Voting in 89 constituencies of Saurashtra and South Gujarat region will be held in the first phase, while the remaining 93 constituencies in Central and northern regions go for polls in the second phase.

The second phase of polling in the state is scheduled on December 14 and counting of the two-phase election is slated on December 18.