The BJP on Friday unveiled its manifesto for the West Bengal Assembly polls, which promised to plug infiltration, implement a Uniform Civil Code and proposed expansive welfare packages for women, youth, farmers and state government employees if the party wins the electoral battle.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah described the manifesto as a roadmap for 'Sonar Bangla' and launched a blistering attack on the Mamata Banerjee government, alleging the last 15 years of the TMC's rule had been a 'nightmare' for the people of the state.
The manifesto's sharpest political edge came in Shah's declaration that a BJP government would adopt a 'detect, delete and deport' policy against infiltrators.
The party promised to secure the state's borders, stop cattle smuggling and clear government land of 'encroachers and infiltrators', underscoring the BJP's attempt to keep the campaign centred on the border belt stretching across North 24 Parganas, Nadia, Malda, Murshidabad and North Bengal.
The promise is expected to resonate among sections of Matua and refugee Hindu voters -- a section the BJP has assiduously cultivated for years through the Citizenship Amendment Act and repeated references to 'infiltration'.
The manifesto also promised that the Uniform Civil Code would be implemented in Bengal within six months of the BJP coming to power.
Shah announced that every woman in Bengal would receive ₹3,000 each month if the BJP came to power, and promised 33 per cent reservation for women in all government jobs, including the police, as well as free travel on public transport vehicles.
The promise is politically significant in a state where women now constitute nearly half the electorate.
The rise in women's turnout and the popularity of the TMC government's schemes, such as Lakshmir Bhandar, have become one of the strongest electoral shields of the ruling party.
Last month, the TMC announced a ₹500 increase in Lakshmir Bhandar in its own manifesto, taking the monthly payout to ₹1,500 for general category women and ₹1,700 for SC and ST beneficiaries.
The BJP manifesto also tried to tap discontent among unemployed youth and government employees.
It promised unemployed youth a monthly allowance of ₹3,000 and an additional ₹15,000 to prepare for competitive examinations.
Those who lost jobs because of the school recruitment scam and other corruption-related cases would be given an age relaxation of up to five years, the BJP promised.
It also pledged transparent, merit-based recruitment and said deserving candidates would be given permanent jobs.
Attempting to exploit the long-running resentment among state government employees over dearness allowance, Shah promised DA parity with the Centre and implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission within 45 days of assuming office.
For farmers, the BJP promised to increase assistance under the PM-Kisan scheme to ₹9,000 annually by adding ₹3,000 from the state government to the Centre's existing ₹6,000.
The manifesto also mentioned a broad infrastructure and development package aimed at countering the perception that the BJP speaks only the language of identity politics.
Shah announced that AIIMS, IIT, IIM and an institute of fashion designing would be set up in different districts of North Bengal, while a new cancer hospital with modern facilities would also come up in the region.
Four new townships would be developed across the state after suitable locations are identified, while special deep-sea ports would be built at Tajpur and Kulpi, and a separate development plan drawn up for the Haldia port, the manifesto promised.
The BJP also promised a 10-year action plan for Kolkata, which Shah said would be projected globally as a 'living city'.
Darjeeling would be developed as a heritage tourism destination, while the hill areas would be developed 'keeping Bengal united', a formulation apparently aimed at balancing the BJP's support base in the hills with anxieties in the plains over any suggestion of division.
Alongside development came a heavy cultural layer.
The BJP said it would develop a Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spiritual circuit, establish a cultural centre in the name of Rabindranath Tagore and set up a Vande Mataram museum.
It promised that a BJP government would set up a committee of retired Supreme Court judges to investigate political violence and another of retired judges to supervise probes into crimes against women, such as in Sandeshkhali.
