Freebies or promises? BJP walks the tightrope in Gujarat

In a fresh approach to the regular poll promises and manifestos, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched a campaign ‘Agresar Gujarat’. Through this campaign, which will run from November 5 to 15, BJP plans to seek public opinion for the party’s manifesto ahead of the state Assembly elections.

People can drop their suggestions in boxes kept at public places or mail them to "agresargujart.com" website. Suggestions will be accepted till November 15, a party release said.

The ruling BJP, which is trying to salvage its image following the Morbi bridge collapse incident where over 130 people lost their lives, is banking on the Modi factor and development push to come back to power again in the state. However, the saffron party, which is yet to release its manifesto, seems to be walking a tight rope amid raging political debate over the feasibility of parties announcing freebies ahead of elections.

Also Read — What has Aam Aadmi Party promised in Gujarat?

The BJP has attacked AAP calling its poll promises freebies and blaming it to be unethical and inducements. The ‘revdi’ debate invoked by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put BJP in a tough spot.

"Muft mein revri baant kar vote batorne ka culture aa raha hai.....isse desh ke logon aur yuvaon ko savdhan rehna hai (a culture of promising freebies like revdi to garner votes is there these days....the people and youths must be careful)," Modi said.

Also Read — Gujarat polls: Congress promises 10 lakh jobs, Rs 500 per LPG cylinder among other benefits in manifesto

However, last month Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived with thousands of crores worth of development projects in the poll-bound state.

In a three-day visit, the prime minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of development projects worth around Rs 22,000 crore in Gujarat.

On October 17, the Gujarat government announced its plans to give two free domestic cylinders to around 39 lakh gas connection holders under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in the state. This is not the first move to spark speculations that the BJP government is making such announcements with an eye on upcoming elections. The shift of the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project worth Rs 1.54 lakh crore from Maharashtra to Gujarat was also seen as a move made for political gains.

The BJP, which is confident of securing the majority in the 182 seats legislature, now has the task to strike a balance between freebies and promises in their maifesto.