Rahul Gandhi calls BJP manifesto 'voice of an isolated man', 'short-sighted, arrogant'

Congress Rahul Gandhi has slammed the BJP manifesto and called it 'voice of an isolated man', 'short-sighted, arrogant'. Gandhi took to Twitter on Tuesday and said that, “the Congress manifesto was created through discussion. The voice of over a million Indian people it is wise and powerful.” But, “the BJP manifesto was created in a closed room,” he added. On Monday, the BJP released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha Elections. Calling it a ‘sankalp patra’, BJP pitched nationalism as its inspiration. The manifesto promised NRC in different parts of the country to push out infiltrators and zero tolerance to terror while reiterating its pet causes --construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya and scrapping of Article 370, 35A dealing with special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

 

The Congress manifesto was created through discussion. The voice of over a million Indian people it is wise and powerful.

The BJP Manifesto was created in a closed room. The voice of an isolated man, it is short sighted and arrogant.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 9, 2019

Releasing the manifesto, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah along with senior Union ministers also promised slew of welfare schemes for farmers and others, a Rs 100 lakh crore infrastructure investment and easing of the tax burden for the middle class in next five years.

"Nationalism is our inspiration, empowering the poor is our philosophy and good governance is our mantra", Modi said, asserting that a BJP government will lay a strong foundation for a developed India by 2047, when India completes 100 years of independence.

Announcing 75 milestones for India to achieve at its 75 years of freedom in 2022, the manifesto mentions a number of goals under heads of agriculture, youth and education, infrastructure, railways, health, economy, good governance, inclusive development, women empowerment and cultural heritage.

The 75 definitive, time-bound targets will allow people an "interim evaluation" of his government in 2022, Modi said, adding that the manifesto was a "multi-layered and multi-dimensional" document that addressed the expectations and aspirations of different sections of India's diverse society.

But the Congress termed the BJP manifesto as ‘jhansa patra’. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said that instead of manifesto, the BJP should have released a ‘maafinama’. Patel also shredded the BJP manifesto, figuratively. He said that people will not believe the ‘Sankalp Patra’. “The difference between BJP manifesto and Congress manifesto can be seen firstly from the cover page. Our's has a crowd of people, and BJP manifesto has face of just one man,” Patel added.

Surjewala said that what was missing from the BJP’s manifesto was any mention of jobs, notebandi (demonetisation), GST and black money. During the media presser, the Congress leaders later released document called '125 broken promises of BJP', listing the status of party's promises made in the 2014 election manifesto. The 'jumla' manifesto remains divisive in its approach through Ram temple and the contentious citizenship amendment bill, the Congress leaders said.