The BJP released its election manifesto for West Bengal on Sunday, promising to create a “Sonar Bangla” by creating jobs, enhancing social security schemes, and clearing the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act in the new government’s first cabinet meeting.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the BJP would ensure the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme and the PM-Kisan program in the state, as well as provide at least one job per family while releasing the “Sonar Bangla Sonkolpo Potro” at EZCC in Salt Lake.
If elected, the BJP pledged to pay 18,000 in arrears to the state’s 75 lakh farmers under PM-Kisan, with the Centre contributing 6,000 and the state contributing the rest.
In addition, the party announced a 5,000 crore intervention fund to ensure farmers’ economic security, as well as a 3 lakh accidental insurance policy for small farmers and fishermen.
The BJP vowed a Sonar Bangla fund worth 11,000 crores to foster art, literature, and other creative industries, as well as a Rabindranath Tagore Prize similar to the Nobel Prize.
The party also pledged a Satyajit Ray Award, similar to the Academy Award, to raise the profile of the Kolkata International Film Festival.
For state government employees, the BJP vowed to introduce the seventh pay commission, as well as a 33 percent reservation for women in state government jobs.
The BJP vowed “strictest border security” in response to infiltration.
All women will receive free KG to PG schooling, as well as free public transportation travel, according to the party.
It promised to build new AIIMS hospitals in the North Bengal, Jungle Mahal, and Sunderban areas, as well as toilets and safe drinking water for every family.
Mr. Shah said that if the BJP gains power in West Bengal, people would no longer have to go to court to organize Durga Puja or face police baton charges for holding Saraswati Puja.
He committed to make Kolkata’s Durga Puja festival an international tourist attraction.
“Bengal has become one of the most dangerous states in the world for women. Years of inaction have shattered the dreams of the youth and halted the flow of jobs. TMC misgovernance has begun a dark chapter in Bengal’s history in the last ten years “he claimed.
Kolkata will be created as a financial services center, according to the party, that also announced free electricity for domestic consumption up to 200 units in the city.
The BJP also pledged that Kolkata Metro service will be extended to Serampore, Dhulagarh, and Kalyani.
“We have agreed to clear the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) implementation in the first cabinet meeting itself, in addition to authorizing the Ayushman Bharat scheme for the poor,” Mr. Shah said.
The Centre is yet to set the rules for enforcing the CAA, which has been met with strong resistance from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who took to the streets in December 2019 to protest the legislation.
