BJP Manifesto for 2009 Lok Sabha Elections – For Stability and Security, India needs a Decisive Leader

Posted by on Apr 14, 2009 in India, Indian Politicians, Indian Politics

Following is a part of the text of the BJP Manifesto for the 15th Lok Sabha Elections. In this second part, the BJP wants to convey that the country needs a Decisive Leader at the top for its stability and security. The BJP also tries to convince that the decisive leader needed to be elected is L.K. Advani. Here is what the BJP says about all that and also the introduction of its Prime Ministerial Candidate L.K.Advani:

A quirk of fate brought the Congress to power at the Centre in the summer of 2004. The United Progressive Alliance that it put together, which was able to secure parliamentary majority with the help of the Left parties, has shown remarkable lack of cohesiveness with individual Ministers representing the Congress’ allies running their allotted Ministries like their personal fiefdom. This was a Government totally divorced from the twin principles of collective responsibility and accountability.

The nation was thus burdened with a Prime Minister who was in office but not in power; and, a Government that was in power but not in authority. This was supposed to be a Government that would work for the welfare of the ‘aam admi’ – the common man. As it prepares to exit office after five years, the Government has nothing to show by way of extending a ‘hand’ to the ‘aam admi’.

This Government will be remembered for four things. It was headed by the weakest Prime Minister the country has ever had. Its reversal of NDA’s policies has led to a mounting sense of insecurity fuelled by repeated terrorist attacks, Maoist insurgency and separatist violence which together have claimed hundreds of innocent lives. Its gross mismanagement of the economy has caused inflation, job losses and lockouts. And, it has shielded corruption at high places by misusing agencies of the state, namely the CBI.

The Congress has tried to whitewash its terrible record on the national security front, especially its abysmal failure to protect citizens from terrorism, by making cosmetic changes in antiquated laws. This is clearly not enough. It has sought to gloss over the increasing cost of food, which is eight per cent higher than in 2008, and many times more than in 2004, by projecting misleading statistics.

Lakhs of people in the unorganised sector have lost their jobs over the past year. Skilled workers are losing their jobs in the organised sector. This is far worse than unemployment because it impoverishes families dependent on assured income and dampens the national spirit.

The worst hit are India’s youth, especially those who are looking forward to enter the job market. The Congress-led UPA Government has gifted them with a bleak future. As for the poor, they feel abandoned by the Congress-led regime. The much-publicised National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme has turned out to be as much a flop as all other schemes of the Government. It is a telling comment on the UPA’s performance that a whopping 55 million people have been pushed below the poverty line over the past five years.

This is according to a study by the Indian Statistical Institute, based on data collated by the National Sample Survey Organisation; the real figure could be much higher. In rural India, thousands of farmers have committee suicide to escape the burden of mounting debt and grinding poverty. They are victims of Government apathy.

An equally damning indictment of the Congress-led UPA regime is galloping urban poverty. An estimated 23.7 per cent of the population in cities and towns lives in slums, according to ‘India: Urban Poverty Report, 2009’, amid squalor, crime, disease and tension. Such glaring deprivation and denial, such rising numbers of people below the poverty line, contradict this nation’s aspirations. They are obstacles to India’s emergence as a great power and need to be removed through remedial Government intervention.

The stability of the NDA years helped India to prosper. The drift of the UPA years has put India in reverse gear. The BJP will restore the stability which India desperately needs. The BJP, immediately upon coming to power, will address the key issues of security and economy. It will resume the employment-generating, prosperity-creating policies of the NDA Government headed by Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, through massive investments in infrastructure projects, by nursing agriculture back to health, and by making credit easily accessible to industry, while ensuring the safety and security of all people from the depredations of terrorists.

India today faces a severe crisis of leadership. The nation needs a determined and decisive leader who has the capacity, commitment and conviction to take command of the situation and lead from the front. The country needs a leader who can restore Government’s credibility and the people’s confidence in themselves. The polity needs a leader who values consensus over conflict, consultation over confrontation. Then alone can good governance replace the all-round failure of the Congress.

That leader is Shri L.K. Advani.

Shri Advani has an exemplary record of service to the nation covering over six decades. A leader of impeccable integrity, he was one of the chief crusaders for democracy during the Emergency (1975-77) and spent 19 months in jail. He led the Ayodhya movement, the biggest mass movement in India since Independence, and initiated a powerful debate on cultural nationalism and the true meaning of secularism. Along with Shri Vajpayee, he was the principal architect of the BJP’s triumph, as the head of the National Democratic Alliance, in forming a stable and successful non-Congress coalition Government at the Centre (1998-2004). As India’s Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, he ably assisted Shri Vajpayee in steering the ship of the nation through difficult waters.

The BJP is proud that it is seeking the people’s mandate in the 2009 general election, along with its allies in the NDA, under the leadership of Shri Advani. The BJP is contesting the 2009 15th Lok Sabha election on a Manifesto that commits the party to an agenda for change guided by three goals: GOOD GOVERNANCE, DEVELOPMENT and SECURITY. Our focus will be on the nation’s youth, on addressing their concerns and helping them achieve their aspirations. We will lay emphasis on empowerment through excellence by providing quality education. We will ensure the security of life and property.

Reviving the economy, re-orienting it towards agriculture, rural development, and unorganised and informal sectors; creating adequate employment opportunities for the youth; pushing back the price line; and, investing heavily in infrastructure projects are at the top of our agenda. The BJP believes that after five years of drift and missed opportunities, the time has come for a Government that works, a Government that cares. Our primary concern will be India’s rapid, inclusive, equitable and all-embracing development and stable growth that benefits the largest number of people. We will invest in rural development; we will ensure higher agricultural productivity and guarantee an assured income to farmers; and, we will protect the livelihood of the masses while creating myriad opportunities of gainful employment.

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