NEW DELHI, Apr 2: Hoping to wrest seven Lok Sabha seats in national capital, BJP today made an array of promises like granting full statehood, reducing power tariff by 30 per cent and controlling price rise within one month if voted to power, in its first ‘Delhi-specific’ manifesto ahead of general elections.
The party, which had lost all the seats to Congress in 2009 Lok Sabha polls, said it will set up a helpline for the national capital to receive complaints of corruption which appears to be on the lines of the call centre launched by the then AAP Government in January.
It also promised to bring police, DDA and other land-owning agencies under one roof to streamline governance.
The manifesto was released at a function attended by senior Delhi BJP leaders and the party’s all seven candidates. The BJP is yet to come out with its national manifesto.
Speaking on the occasion, Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan, who is contesting from Chandni Chowk, said if BJP is voted to power at the Centre, it would work towards granting full statehood to Delhi.
“We have been demanding full statehood for last five decades. A bill in this regard was introduced in parliament when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, but it could not be made into a law after a report was not filed on time by the select committee
“This election which is being fought to make Narendra Modi the prime minister of the country, the first thing we will demand from him is to give the status of full statehood to Delhi,” said Vardhan.
Vardhan said BJP was aiming to make Delhi as the “solar energy capital” of the country by encouraging people to install solar panels on roof tops of their houses.
He reiterated BJP’s promise made before the assembly election that power tariff will be reduced by 30 per cent by promoting competition among private power distribution companies. He said the discoms will be brought under the purview of RTI act and CAG.
Talking about the promises made in the manifesto, Vardhan said, “Three months backs, Delhi BJP had announced its manifesto before the Delhi assembly polls through its ‘Dus din, dus irade’ (10 days, 10 determinations) campaign. This election manifesto is reiteration of all those promises with some modifications.”
On the issue of combating corruption, Vardhan said there is a need to have laws like Jan Lokpal, but more important is to weed out itsroot cause by bringing in transparency in Government’s function.
“Prevention is better than cure. There is a need to make all the Government’s decisions and procedure transparent. We will follow the policy of ‘transparency at its peak’ and will promote e-governance. All tenders will be made available on the website and the process of awarding big tenders will be video graphed,” said Vardhan.
He added that the institution of Lokayukta will be made effective with sufficient powers. Moreover, an accountability commission will also be established for ensuring efficient use of public money, Vardhan said.
Exuding confidence of winning maximum seats in the Lok Sabha polls, Vardhan said, “We believe that the 2014 Lok Sabha polls is the most important elections in the history of India. The elections results will be unprecedented for BJP. The country has decided to see Narendra Modi as the prime minister of the country.”
“He has become a symbol of aspiration of crores of Indians today. He represents good governance, honesty, transparency and is a symbol of hope for youths.”
The party also promised to provide safe drinking water, rationalise the tariff and focus on rain water harvesting. It promised to use developed technological models for modernising, rationalising and optimising for the existing sewage system. (PTI)
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