Kashmiri Pandits, Cows & Smart Cities: Key Difference Between BJP's 2014 and 2019 Manifesto

The Bharatiya Janata Party launched its manifesto on April 8. The party boasts that it has taken inputs from 6 crore Indians to make it. The new manifesto is of 45 pages and is titled – “Sankalp Patra: Sankalpit Bharat Sashakt Bharat” is thinner than that of the 52-page manifesto in 2014 which aided the party to win, reported The Quint. The party has listed down 75 milestones that India will achieve by 2022 if BJP forms government at the centre.

Here is the key difference of both the manifestos :

The cover of both the manifestos is very different from each. Where in 2014, the manifesto had images of 10 BJP ministers, the 2019 manifesto only carried the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Cows” absent in manifesto

In the 2014 manifesto, the BJP had clearly mentioned the term ‘cow’. The BJP had placed cow under the section of ‘National Heritage’ which stated: “Necessary legal framework to protect cow + National Cattle Development Board for improvement of indigenous livestock breeds.” The term “Cow” found itself among heritages such as Ram Mandir, Ram Mandir and Ganga of the country.

Surprisingly, in the 2019 manifesto, BJP has not mentioned cow once. Over the last 5 years, several cases of cow-related violence erupted from various parts of the country.

Terrorism placed under “Foreign policy”

In 2019’s manifesto, the party has prioritised to demand a permanent seat of India in the United Nations Security Council.

The party has also added terrorism under the foreign policy which previously used to be covered under security. The party mentioned that it holds a zero-tolerance policy against terrorism in the country.

No Real-time data, but pension and twice farm income for farmers

In the 2014 election, the party mentioned that it will use technology to disseminate real-time data to farmers. However, in 2019, the party plucks out the real-time data for farmers and instead have promised to double farm income by 2022 and cover all the farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme. It further mentioned that the small and marginal farmers will be entitled to pensions.

Smart cities fail to secure a spot

In 2014, the BJP aspired to set up smart cities. The BJP had promised to build 100 new cities however in 2019 no mention of such cities were there.

No “Career Centres”

During the 2014 election, the BJP in its manifesto has mentioned “transformation of Employment Exchanges intro career centres”. Shockingly, the term “Career Centres” was not found in the latest one. This is a shock to a lot as this government has been bashed multiple times for incompetency on creating jobs. The NSSO report which was leaked out stated that the country’s unemployment rate has hit an all-time low in the last 40 years.

No mention of Black Money

The BJP government in its 2014 manifesto had mentioned three specific promises in relation to dissipate corruption. It had mentioned that the party will use ‘Task Force’ to track and bring back Black Money. It had also promised to interact with foreign Government to facilitate information sharing on black money. However, the current manifesto under ‘Corruption – Free Bharat’ talks about implementing Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, and the Benami Transaction Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 2016.

No Mention of Kashmiri Pandits

In 2014, the party in its manifesto promised to help the return of Kashmiri Pandits. In 2019 manifesto, they have promised to remove article 370. Back then in 2014, there was no mention of the scrapping of Article 370 or 35A in the manifesto. The party has further attacked Congress for supporting Article 370 and said that the party is helping Pakistan.

However, there are many initiatives which BJP didn’t mention in their manifesto in 2014 but executed them which includes setting up of Ayush Ministry, NITI Aayog and dismantling of Planning Commission. They also brought insurance schemes like Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Ayushman Bharat. Direct benefit to citizens through Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (an LPG cylinder to each family) and Kisan Yojna (Rs 6,000 to each farmer) were also done.

Also Read: Ram Temple, Healthcare, Pension For Farmers & Small Traders: Know What BJP Has To Offer