The Bharatiya Janata Party released its manifesto for the Madhya Pradesh polls, including a separate document for women, on Saturday, promising a proportionate bonus to small farmers, creation of 10 lakh jobs per year and two-wheelers to meritorious girls, among other things.
The BJP, ruling the state since 2003, is seeking to retain power against the backdrop of widespread farmers' protests last year for better support prices and a loan waiver.
In the main manifesto titled "Samridh Madhya Pradesh Drishti Patra", the saffron party promised to distribute loans of Rs 40,000 crore among farmers, expand the area under irrigation to 80 lakh hectares in the next five years and a university to promote food processing.
In its women's manifesto, the "Nari Shakti Sankalp Patra", the party promised to install sanitary napkin vending machines in schools, a Scooty to every girl who gets more than 75 per cent marks in the Class 12 board examination, and to double the intake capacity of the educational institutions for women in five years.
The documents were released by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the presence of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other state-level BJP leaders in Bhopal.
The saffron party promised a "direct payment of a proportionate bonus" to small and marginal farmers -- those owning up to five acres of land.
Chouhan claimed it would benefit 80 lakh farmers, adding that the bonus would be paid on the basis of production and would not entail the purchase of agricultural produce.
The party also promised the Har Hath, Ek Kaj Yojana (the "work for every hand scheme") to impart job skills to one unemployed person in every household.
Chouhan also promised to create 10 lakh jobs for the youth every year.
The ease of doing business would be enhanced by setting up a "CM Hotline" and reducing the administration's response time to investors to 72 hours, the manifesto said.
Chouhan also promised to set up a "global skill park" in Bhopal and a new industrial township in the state.
Investments of Rs 5 lakh crore would be brought to the state in the next five years, the BJP manifesto said.
Besides the construction of the Bhopal-Indore, Gwalior-Chambal and Narmada expressways, the saffron party promised the "Atal Samriddhi Mala" (corridors) and the development of a defence production cluster in the Gwalior-Datia-Bhind-Morena region.
Chouhan said the BJP government would spend Rs 2 lakh crore on urban infrastructure in the next five years.
The manifesto also promised a doorstep delivery of government services and piped water to 10 lakh households.
Chouhan said the manifesto provided a roadmap to convert Madhya Pradesh into a developed state.
The opposition Congress had released its manifesto for the Madhya Pradesh polls last Saturday, promising, among other things, a "spiritual department" in the state, promotion of Sanskrit, development of a "Ram Path", a mythical route taken by Lord Ram during his exile, and commercial production of cow urine and cow dung cakes.
The 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly will go to the polls on November 28 and the results will be announced on December 11.
