With the West Bengal Assembly election just days away, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is turning no stone unturned as it released its West Bengal Assembly election manifesto.
The BJP has promised to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) if the party comes to power in West Bengal. The party has added that state borders will be strengthened to prevent infiltrators from entering the state. The BJP has promised that refugee families will receive Rs 10,000 every year.
Having repeatedly attacked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for not implementing central schemes, the BJP announced that it would implement the Ayushman Bharat Scheme and the Pradhan Mantri Kishan Nidhi Scheme in the state.
The saffron party has given a lot of importance to women in their Bengal manifesto. To attract women voters, BJP announced there would be a 33% job reservation for women if the party comes to power in West Bengal. The party also added that women will be provided with free travel on public transport. Girls and young women will be given free education from kindergarten (KG) to post-graduation (PG).
It is quite ironic that the BJP has decided to provide free travel for women in West Bengal, as the same party slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for providing free bus and metro rides to women in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is focussing on students, youth and farmers in their Bengal election manifesto. The TMC has promised to increase aid to farmers from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 per acre. TMC has said that if the party comes back to power, students will receive credit cards to get a loan up to Rs 10 lakhs with an interest of 4%.
TMC has also promised to provide five lakh jobs in a year. The party added that female heads of family in the general category would receive Rs 6,000 annually as financial assistance and, those belonging to SC/ST community would receive Rs 12,000 annually. The party has said that the Swasthya Sathi Health Scheme will continue providing Rs 5 lakh worth of expense to families for treatment.
With the election manifestos released, BJP has to name its chief ministerial candidate. With the state going to polls on March 27, the BJP is yet to name its candidate. Former protégé of Mamata Banerjee and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari could possibly be the CM candidate as the once mentor-protégé will go toe to toe in Nandigram.
