BJP Election Manifesto 2014

Bharatiya Janata Party

Election Manifesto

2014

Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat

Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas

Our Pledge

Ek Bharat - Shreshtha Bharat

Vibrant and Participatory Democracy

Empowered and Inspired People

Inclusive and Sustainable Development

Quality life in Villages and Cities

Basic Amenities to All

Flourishing Agriculture

Productive Youth

Involved Women

Robust physical and social Infrastructure

Innovative and Technologically driven Society

Globally competitive Economy

Brand India built on Quality

Strong, Effective and Futuristic Institutions

Open, Transparent and Systems-based Government

Pro-active, Pro-people Good Governance

To build a Modern India: the best foundation is our own Culture;

the best tool our own hands; and the best material our own aspirations

Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas

PREFACE

India is the most ancient civilization of the world and has always been looked upon by the world as a land of wealth and wisdom. India has been credited to have developed, apart from philosophy and mathematics, science and technology of a very high order, which had attracted scholars from all over the world. Al-Andalusi, a Spanish scholar in the 11th Century, in his monumental work 'Tabaqat al-Umam' had discussed the state of science in different countries. He writes, "The first nation to have cultivated science is India… India is known for wisdom of its people. Over many centuries all the kings of the past have recognized the ability of Indians in all branches of knowledge." Andalusi further states, "Indians, as known to all nations for many centuries, are the metal (essence) of wisdom, the source of fairness and objectivity. They are the people of sublime pensiveness, universal apologues, and useful and rare inventions."

India's contribution to the march of civilization goes back to several thousand years before the Christian era. From the Vedas to Upanishads and Gautam - the Buddha and Mahavira - the 24th Jain Tirthankara and then to Kautilya and Chandra Gupta and down up to the eighteenth century, India was respected for its flourishing economy, trade, commerce and culture. It had an international outreach from Korea to Arabia, from Bamiyan to Borobudur and beyond. Before the advent of Britishers, Indian goods were internationally recognized for their quality and craftsmanship. India had a much bigger role and presence in industry and manufacturing than any nation in Europe or Asia. It had a well-developed banking system and equally renowned businessmen, along with its financiers, who were contributing to create a flourishing and progressive economy. According to Sunderland, India was also one of the greatest shipbuilding nations and consequently had an access to international markets. Indian prosperity held the world in thrall. It was this wealth which attracted the foreigners - from Alexander to the Britishers.

Historical records establish the level of progress and prosperity attained by India before the advent of the Europeans. Indian advancement in mathematics, astronomy, physics and chemistry along with the biological sciences has been well recognized. India was a land of abundance, prosperity, affluence, a land of sharing and caring living in perfect harmony and peace with the nature. From ancient times almost all religions practiced in different parts of the world, have existed peacefully in India and will continue to do so. India thus provides the most ennobling experience in spiritual co-existence. BJP recognizes that no nation could chart out its domestic or foreign policies unless it has a clear understanding about itself, its history, its roots, its strengths and failings. In a highly mobile and globalized world, it is imperative for a nation to know its roots that provide sustenance to its people.

Indian freedom struggle, which was inspired by Tilak, Gandhi, Aurobindo, Patel, Bose and others, had a clear vision of the civilizational consciousness of India. These leaders had directed the freedom movement, keeping the Indian ways and thoughts in the centre of their action. They had a vision to reconstruct the political and economic institutions of India as a continuum of civilizational consciousness, which made India one country, one people, and one Nation.

After achieving independence, the leaders at the helm of affairs lost the spirit and the vision, which the freedom movement had evoked. They discarded the vision and adopted the institutional framework of administration created by the Britishers which was quite alien to India's world-view. It is unfortunate that these leaders could not comprehend India's inner vitality, which was the main force responsible for India's survival despite several attacks and prolonged foreign rule and thus, failed to rekindle the spirit of India.

Even after nearly seven decades of our independence, the country has not been able to discover its innate vitality, the sense of time and the will to act. As a result, in spite of being the oldest civilization and a young republic, we are engulfed by a multi-dimensional crisis. A crisis, which has encompassed all walks of life. The rising disparities, social and communal divide and terrorism leading to a fractured society, are worsening the situation rapidly. The present crisis is the result of this confusion and disconnect from the seekings and sensibilities of the people. This is worse confounded by the weak and spineless leadership of the UPA Government. The tragedy is further heightened by their failure to diagnose the malady and find the remedy. Instead of creating a socio-economic and political paradigm of governance drawn from the civilizational consciousness of India, the leaders tried to follow whatever was being practiced in this or that western country.

Thus, we have wasted more than half of a century. Many other countries, even with smaller size and lesser resources, have surpassed us in development parameters. Another reason for this is that the Governance in these decades was marred by lack of trust, leading to excessive controls. It was also marked by lack of openness in Government and lack of people's participation. This has led to concentration of power in a few hands and lack of transparency breeding corruption and nepotism on a massive scale. The so-called 'liberalization' came in 1990s, but it was half-hearted. It didn't work because the rest of the eco-system remained the same. However, the beginning of the 21st century showed some light under the NDA rule. India started being reckoned as an economic superpower. The six-year rule of NDA had given the Nation many firsts, building an image in the International community. However, many of the hopes, potentials and projects have not been fully realized in the subsequent years. But after 2004, UPA came into power and the situation started worsening again. We missed a historic national opportunity once more.

UPA's biggest blow to the Indian political system is that they have taken out Genuineness from Governance; Authenticity from Administration. UPA has shown Governance of Enactment, not Action. It has given an Administration of Entitlement without Delivery. We have become a polity of Promises, and not Performance. We represent an economy of deficits, a work culture of delays and an asset base of deficiency. Worse, Congress-led UPA has made India a global synonym of Corruption, Scandal and Stagnation. To make it even worse, today, we are passing through total Decision and Policy Paralysis. Sluggish economic growth, unprecedented price rise and unstable Currency are its most visible facets.

The following demand urgent solutions; economy including agriculture, energy, environment including natural resources, education and health, employment, external and internal threats to security, empowerment, Governance, and erosion of moral and societal values.

If India has to survive as a nation, which it has to, in order to play its destined role in the comity of nations, if it has to make its voice heard for creating a peaceful and egalitarian world order, then we must take up the challenges with urgency and determination and provide proper solutions for them. It is a pity that we have a demoralized leadership presiding over the state apparatus, which is incompetent to handle the present problems. What is needed today is to arrive at a consensus about the 'Idea' of India and also to think and redesign our approach in consonance with the seekings and preferences of the Indian people.

The situation in the country is deteriorating rapidly. Delay in resolving the crisis would be dangerous.  What is needed is to take lessons from history, recognise the vitality and resilience of India, the power of its world-view and utilize its strength, which drove it to glorious heights and analyse its weaknesses, which led to this abysmal fall. Pick up the thread from the point where the continuum of our civilizational consciousness was lost and reorient the polity in consonance with those strong points of Indian psyche which will be the engine for our future glory. Let's keep the windows open, have a clear understanding of the global scenario and how without destroying our uniqueness we can assimilate the best of the technological advancements.

We can achieve this goal provided the leaders seriously set to this task. What we need is a political party committed to deliver and a leadership with strong determination and political will. As Vivekananda had said, "All power is within you. You can do anything. Believe in that." Yes, the power lies in the people of India, in the inner sanctum sanctorum of Mother India. What is needed is to ignite the spark and Mother India would rise in her full glory.

As Sri Ma had once said that India had become the symbolic representation of all the difficulties of modern mankind but India will also be the land of its resurrection to a higher and truer life. The BJP will leave no stone unturned to fulfill the dream of 1.22 billion Indians.

Today, India is blessed with the rare capacity and opportunity of Democracy, Demography and Demand. If we are able to consolidate and harness them, we will be able to reach the heights which India deserves. The biggest reason for a sorry state of affairs is bad intentions on the part of those who have ruled the country for sixty years. And that is where we would show the first difference. For BJP, the goal of the policies and practices would be: Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat! The path would be:

Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. This is our commitment to the Nation and to the People.

With this determination of the party under the charismatic leadership of Shri Narendra Modi, we enter the elections to the 16th Lok Sabha and would work whole-heartedly to give a stable, strong, visionary and progressive Government to India.

It is an opportunity to change our fate and of our nation.

Glory to Mother India, glory to Her children.

Dr. (Prof.) Murli Manohar Joshi

Chairman

Manifesto Committee -2014

March 26, 2014

Full text of BJP Election Manifesto 2014

http://www.bjp.org/images/pdf_2014/full_manifesto_english_07.04.2014.pdf

http://bjpelectionmanifesto.com/