MP polls: BJP promises higher MSP for grains, cheaper LPG, free houses

A higher Minimum Support Price (MSP) for wheat and paddy, free houses, free education, and cheaper cooking gas are among the promises featured in the BJP’s manifesto for the November 17 Madhya Pradesh elections released on Saturday (November 11).

BJP president JP Nadda, along with the party’s state chief VD Sharma, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh, and other leaders released the 96-page ‘Sankalp Patra’ (vision document) in Bhopal.

In it, the BJP has promised an MSP of Rs 2,700 per quintal of wheat and Rs 3,100 for the same quantity of paddy.

It also promises houses for beneficiaries of the state’s flagship Ladli Bahna programme and jobs to at least one member of every family or the opportunity for self-employment.

Free education to girls from poor families up to post-graduation, free education to poor students up to Class 12, and cooking gas cylinder at Rs 450 for beneficiaries of Ladli Bahna and PM Ujjwala schemes are among its other highlights.

Other promises

According to the vision document, the party will set up technological institutes in MP along the lines of IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and medical institutions similar to AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) if the BJP retains power in the state.

It also promises six new expressways and a budget of Rs 3 lakh crore for the empowerment of tribal communities.

Nadda in his address said BJP is the only political party to implement its manifestos in letter and spirit by making it the road map of the government. The BJP also keeps an eye on manifesto implementation through its monitoring system, he said.

State BJP chief VD Sharma said a committee has prepared the manifesto after discussions and is seeking suggestions from all sections and intellectuals of society.

“The manifesto includes the aspirations of the people,” he said, adding that conventions were organised at divisional levels to discuss it.

Road map

He said boxes were kept during the party’s “11,000-km-long Jan Ashirwad Yatra”, a mass-contact programme in which seven lakh suggestions were received. Many of them were researched and included in the manifesto, he said.

Chouhan said the Congress was wondering why the BJP was bringing out its manifesto on ‘Narak Chaturdashi’. “The Congress doesn’t know mythology and history. It was the day when Krishna freed sisters from Narakasur,” he said.

The chief minister said they will make the manifesto the road map for Madhya Pradesh’s development. The BJP government has tried to fulfil people’s aspirations by implementing all its promises, he added.

(With agency inputs)