Arun Jaitley said BJP would focus on education, employment and corruption-free governance (PTI Photo)
Inaugurating BJP's campaign in Uttarakhand, star-campaigner Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today released the party's manifesto for the state in Dehradun.
The Finance Minister took a jibe at the ruling Congress, suggesting that Uttarakhand had seen more infighting than development in the past five years under the party. He stressed that BJP would focus on three main issues- education, employment and clean, corruption-free governance.
For students, especially those from economically weaker sections, the manifesto promises free education till the post-graduate level. Smartphones and laptops were also promised for academically outstanding students, who excelled in their fields. Further, the manifesto called for prioritising the study of Sanskrit, medicine and astrology in the state.
The BJP manifesto has also promised to start tele-medicine, air-ambulance and e-tendering services, if elected to power in the up-coming elections.
The party's other commitments include 24-hour electrification, creation of an anti-corruption cell, framing of a youth-specific policy and a road map for Uttarakhand's development.
Mr Jaitley repeatedly attacked the Harish Rawat-led government, stating that it had failed on the two most essential counts of development and stability.
In an attempt to reach out to the voters in the state, Mr Jaitley said his party had a special connect with the hill-state and its people as it was formed when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.
He further called for the formation of a BJP government in the state that would benefit the people of Uttarakhand because the BJP was in power at the Centre as well.
He gave a call for transforming Uttarakhand into a hub for tourism and education. Aiming to bring governance "to the last man" in the state, Mr Jaitley said Uttarakhand was gifted with abundance of natural resources that could be harnessed to initiate a development trajectory.
Rubbishing Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat's oft-repeated charge that the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission had caused huge losses to Uttarakhand, Mr Jaitley today said the centre did not act arbitrarily in sending funds to the state.
"Funding of states is not done arbitrarily by the centre. Well defined, constitutional provisions are followed by the centre in funding the states. The Finance Commission is a body created by the UPA and the funding of the states as per its recommendations has gone up from 32 per cent during UPA to 42 per cent during (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi's government," the Finance Minister told reporters. "This applies to all states not only to Uttarakhand," he added.
The ruling Congress is yet to formally release a party manifesto though Mr Rawat released a nine-point 'vision document', which stressed on channelizing youth energy, tourism, military and employment in the hill-state, a few days ago.