'Viksit Bharat' agenda takes centre stage at first meeting of BJP's manifesto committee

New Delhi: The road map for the government’s “Viksit Bharat” agenda took centre stage at the first meeting of the BJP’s election manifesto committee on Monday as eight Union ministers and three chief ministers joined other party leaders to deliberate on its key promises for the Lok Sabha elections.

Defence minister and former BJP president Rajnath Singh chaired the meeting, with Union minister Piyush Goyal telling reporters that the party has received over 3.75 lakh suggestions through its missed call service and nearly 1.70 lakh on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s app (Namo).

“The road map for Viksit Bharat by 2047 was discussed in the meeting. People’s enthusiastic participation for our manifesto shows their trust in the prime minister and their expectations from him,” he said.

BJP leaders said all the suggestions received from people will be sorted out under different categories and narrowed down for the committee’s next meeting.

With Modi constantly highlighting his government’s priority for the poor, youth, women and farmers, the ruling party is likely to give prominence to the issues related to them.

Goyal, the co-convener of the committee, noted that 916 video vans were also driven through 3,500 assembly constituencies in the country, reaching out to people and seeking their views for the manifesto.

The BJP had on March 30 announced the 27-member committee.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is its convener and several other Union ministers, the chief ministers of states such as Gujarat, Assam and Madhya Pradesh, and seasoned hands like Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje are among its members.

That this is the first time in many decades that some of the core ideological promises of the BJP may not find mention in its election manifesto has added to the general curiosity about what will be the highlights of the ruling party’s poll pledges this time.

With Article 370 repealed by the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in its second term and the Ram temple construction in full swing and already open to devotees, two of the party’s core promises for the last several polls stand fulfilled.

Its governments in some states are also working to implement the Uniform Civil Code, another of its foundational pledges.

With PM Modi often asserting that his third term will be marked by big decisions, the buzz around its manifesto has been gaining in traction.

The Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to be held between April 19 and June 1.