BJP promises 'Olympic mission, 'anti-radical cell' in Gujarat Assembly election manifesto

The party has also pledged to implement the contentious Uniform Civil Code in the next five years

Days before the first phase of Gujarat Assembly polls on December 1, the BJP had released its election manifesto promising scores of freebies and creation of an "anti-radicalisation cell to identify and eliminate potential threats, and sleeper cells of the terrorist organisations and anti-India forces."

The party also pledged to implement the contentious Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the next five years and promised to enact "Gujarat Recovery of Damages of Public and Private Properties Act" for recovering damages to public and private properties by anti-social elements in rioting, violent protests, unrest, among others.

The ruling party also said that it will launch the "Gujarat Olympics Mission" with an aim to host the Olympic games in 2036.

The manifesto was launched jointly by BJP national president J P Nadda and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in the presence of many other party leaders at the party's headquarters in Gandhinagar.

In what seems to be an attempt to check Aam Aadmi Party's offerings such as free education, health and monthly stipend to women, the BJP has promised "free-of-cost, quality education to all girl students from KG to PG."

"We will start Sharda Mehta Yojana to provide free two-wheelers (electric scooters) to meritorious college-going female students from financially weak households. We will provide free bus travel to female senior citizens in the state. We will create more than 1 lakh government jobs for women in the next 5 years," read the manifesto.

BJP has promised to make Gujarat "the defence and aviation manufacturing hub of India" through Rs 5-lakh crore foreign investment. The manifesto also claims to "develop the first-of-its-kind Parikrama Path of 3,000 km encircling the whole state with 4-6 lane roads/ highways by constructing a South Eastern Peripheral Highway and North Western Peripheral Highway."

On the religious front, it says "Devbhumi Dwarka corridor will be established" to make it "western India's biggest spiritual centre, comprising the world's tallest Shree Krishna statue, a 3D immersive Bhagwat Gita experience zone and a viewing gallery for the lost city of Dwarka."

On the other hand, the manifesto promises to set up a task force to "scrutinise assets and finances of Waqf board and conduct surveys of madrasas for their curriculum. It states that the provision will be made for rigorous imprisonment with financial penalty for any forced conversion under Gujarat Freedom of Religion ( Amendment) Act, 2021. These have been stated under the headline "Prosperity only through safety and stability."

The BJP has also promised to double the annual cap of Ayushman Bharat from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per family and free-of-cost medical treatment. It has promised to launch CM Free Diagnostic Scheme with a corpus of Rs 110 crore to provide free-of-cost diagnostic services in all government institutions.