Thiruvananthapuram, March 31 The BJP-led NDA on Tuesday released its manifesto for the April 9 Kerala Assembly elections, promising financial benefits for needy women and citizens over 70, two free LPG cylinders per year for poor households, an AIIMS for the state, and the protection of places of worship.
The manifesto, released by BJP national president Nitin Nabin at an NDA event here, also promised a high-speed railway network connecting the state capital with Kannur, 20,000 litres of free water for every household, and "water for Tamil Nadu and safety for Kerala" regarding the Mullaperiyar dam.
In his speech, after releasing the manifesto, Nabin claimed that decades of successive LDF and UDF governments in Kerala resulted in "negligible industrial growth, economic stagnation, and fiscal mismanagement in the state".
He alleged that the people had paid a heavy price due to the "match-fixing games" played by the two fronts.
The BJP president further accused both fronts of following a policy of appeasement towards a certain community, which hurt the sentiments of other faiths and beliefs.
Giving details of the manifesto, Nabin said that every woman from poor and BPL households will be provided with a Bhakshya Arogya Suraksha card with a monthly recharge of Rs 2,500, which they can use at pharmacies and grocery stores.
Besides that, a welfare pension of Rs 3,000 per month will be provided to women heads of poor households, widows, and senior citizens over the age of 70 years, he said.
Additionally, two free LPG cylinders per year, one each during Onam and Christmas, will be provided to poor families, he said.
The BJP chief further said that concerns exist regarding temple administration in the state under the LDF and UDF administrations, and that the NDA was committed to ensuring transparency, accountability, and greater participation of devotees in the affairs of shrines in Kerala.
"We will protect Sabarimala, Guruvayoor, and all other places of worship by revamping Devaswom Boards to increase the participation of devotees in temple management," he said.
The NDA manifesto said that it will also end corruption through a time-bound CBI enquiry into the Sabarimala gold theft.
It also promised to launch a "Sabarimala Infrastructure Development Mission" to undertake large-scale devotee-centric infrastructure development at the hill-top shrine.
Other promises in the manifesto include expanding the Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY to cover every Malayalee, providing minimum support price for crops requiring it, completing all phases of the Kochi Metro, and introducing new metro services in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, and transforming state-sponsored education to offer optional English medium over the next 5 years.
The manifesto further said that an Employment Linked Incentive Scheme would be launched to extend to all enterprises in Kerala a soft loan of Rs 1 lakh per employment created for state people.
Vizhinjam port will be evolved into a major industrial complex by establishing a ship repair and marine engineering cluster, an elevated double-rail line from Nemom yard to the seaport, and a dedicated industrial corridor surrounding it, the manifesto said.
The BJP-led NDA also has a plan to develop the corporations as unique economic engines by enacting a tailored economic vision. According to that, Thiruvananthapuram will be turned into the IT and Innovation capital, Kochi into the shipbuilding capital of India, Kozhikode the healthcare and medical innovation hub, Thrissur as the capital of Kerala’s cultural tourism, Kollam as an internationally competitive blue economy cluster prioritizing marine exports, and Kannur into a defense innovation hub.