Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls 2022: Uniform Civil Code, job quota for women - top promises made by BJP to woo voters

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has released 11 commitments in which it has promised to implement the Uniform Civil Code if it forms the government for a second term in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh.

NEW DELHI/SHIMLA: As over 55 lakh voters cast their votes to elect a new government in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday, the ruling BJP is hoping the break the hill state’s old tradition of changing the government in every assembly election. The saffron party, which is banking high on the Narendra Modi factor, has been insisting throughout its high-voltage election campaign that "continuity" is key to development, while the main opposition party Congress has said the asembly battle will be fought on local issues.

As expected, the BJP has made big promises in its manifesto that was released ahead of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections 2022 by its national president JP Nadda for whom the electoral contest in his home state is a prestige issue. With Jai Ram Thakur as its chief ministerial face, the saffron leadership has released “11 commitments” and promised to implement the Uniform Civil Code if the party forms the government for a second term in the hill state.

Key highlights of 'BJP Sankalp Patra 2022’ for Himachal Pradesh

-In its election manifesto, the BJP has promised to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), give 33% reservation for women in government jobs in Himachal Pradesh and increased financial assistance to small and poor farmers among other measures. 

-The party has said that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will be rolled out in the hill state by the BJP-led government on the basis of a report prepared by a committee of experts.

-Releasing the ‘Sankalp Patra 2022’ in Shimla, BJP president JP Nadda also promised an annual amount of Rs 3,000 to small farmers, over and above Rs 6,000 given to them under a central government scheme

-In its manifesto of 11 commitments, the party has promised to link all villages with roads and a programme named “Shakti” to invest Rs 12,000 crore in the next 10 years for developing transport and infrastructure around religious places.

-The ruling party has promised that all villages in Himachal Pradesh will be connected through pucca and all-weather roads. It has also promised to implement the ‘CM Anna Datta Scheme’ as part of which ₹3,000 each will be transferred directly to the farmers’ accounts. Over nine lakh farmers will benefit from the scheme,” Nadda said.

-Besides, the ruling party has also promised a survey of Waqf properties, to prevent their “illegal” use, if it is voted back to power.

-BJP has released a separate manifesto for women in which it promised 33% reservation for them in government jobs, three free LPG cylinders to poor women every year and interest-free loans for women entrepreneurs. Besides, the party has also promised an increase in allocation for girls for marriage from the earlier Rs 31,000 to Rs 51,000 and bicycles for schoolgirls, between classes 6 and 12.

-The BJP manifesto said that 5,000 girl students and toppers will be given a Rs 2,500 scholarship per month. BJP will also set up fodder processing to aid women.

-“The first commitment is that the BJP government will bring the UCC here. A committee of experts will be set up and according to their report, the UCC will be implemented in Himachal,” he added.

-While three free LPG cylinders will be provided per year to poor women, poor families will be enrolled in Atal Pension Yojana, the party said in its manifesto. 

-In a boost to the local market and small-scale industries, the BJP has promised to levy a 12% tax on apple packaging and additional GST will be paid by the state government.

-Five new medical colleges will be established and mobile clinic vans will be doubled.

-If the party comes back to power, it would provide for a startup unit with a corpus of Rs 900 crore for the youth of the state.

-The party has also promised to increase the ex-gratia to soldier brothers and compensation to martyrs' next of kin.

Over 55 lakh voters will cast their votes to decide the fate of 412 candidates in the high-stake political battle in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday. The polling for the 68-seat Himachal Pradesh assembly is set to begin at 8 AM amidst unprecedented security arrangements put in place by the Election Commission. The voting will go on till 5 PM today. The high-voltage political campaigns came to an end on November 10, setting up the stage for the voters to cast their vote to elect the new government. The votes will be counted on December 8. Voting is all set to take place on all the 68 Assembly seats of the state, the majority of which (44) had come in the BJP`s bag in the 2017 Assembly polls, with Congress being restricted to just 21 seats.