BJP And Samajwadi Party Shower Sops In UP Poll Manifestos; Ayodhya Resurfaces

When at stake is the control of India's most populous state and, through it, 31 seats in the Rajya Sabha, trust political parties to promise everything under the sun to woo voters.

Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls in seven phases from February 11 to March 8, is likely to witness a three-way contest in most of its 403 assembly seats. Despite its stellar performance in the Lok Sabha elections when it won 71 of 80 parliamentary seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces a stiff challenge from chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP) and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Yadav, who has managed to shake off anti-incumbency by rebelling against his father Mulayam Singh to take control of the SP, has allied with the Congress for the upcoming elections. Mayawati is going it alone and the BJP is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mass appeal.

While the BSP and the Congress have not released manifestos, here's what SP and BJP have promised in theirs...

Sops Galore

• A flurry of sops and freebies, ranging from free smartphones to free cycles for girls, and from free laptops to free medical services for the poor. Each of these figured in its previous list of promises as well.
  
• The Samajwadi Kisan Kosh (farmer's fund) for farmers to purchase seeds and fertilisers.
  
• Electrification of every village in the state.
  
• Construction of the Purvanchal expressway, and the Bundelkhand-Terai expressway. Akhilesh has promised to strengthen the state's Metro network, and has even suggested that the next state Budget be presented from the confines of a Metro train.
  
• Development of river fronts in prominent cities in the state.
  
• Sops, including free wheat and rice for the poor, pressure cookers for poor women, old-age homes for the elderly, one litre of ghee (clarified butter) and milk powder to children from economically weaker sections studying in primary schools, and Rs 1,000 per month to 1 crore people under the Samajwadi Pension Scheme.

From The BJP, More Sops And A Hint Of Hindutva

The BJP, in its manifesto 'Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra', reactivated its Ram Mandir agenda, promised to waive off loans of small and marginal farmers and distribute laptops to the youth amid assurances of working for the all-round development of Uttar Pradesh, ahead of the state polls.

• Complete loan waiver for small farmers and zero interest loans for small farmers and labourers in the informal sector.
• The government will clear pending payments of sugarcane farmers and ensure that the sugar mills hand out a post dated check right at the time of delivery.
• The party has also promised free education for boys till Class XII, and for girls up to graduation, as also 1 GB of free data to college students, along with WiFi in colleges.

Also Read: In Its Assessment Of The Economy, Congress Party Calls Jobs The ‘Real Deficit'

Reviving The Ram Mandir Agenda

In terms of political scoring attempts, the BJP said it will explore the possibility of constructing a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, a contentious issue for years now, but added that it would do so only in accordance with provisions in the Constitution. The issue of the temple has ceased to be a major political card for a few years now, with the new angle being around cow slaughter. The BJP has promised it would keep a check on migration of people due to communal strife.

The BJP also mentioned its opposition to the concept of ‘triple talaq' among Muslims, a stand it has already taken at the Supreme Court.

As a means to combat corruption, BJP said it would constitute a task force to probe graft cases over the past 15 years, a period where Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party, and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party held the reins of the state.

The Indian National Congress, already in a seat-share pact with Akhilesh's party, did not detail its own election manifesto, but called the one released by BJP a bundle of lies. Mayawati's party, which never releases a manifesto, kept with its tradition, but called the same of all others a bundle of lies.

The Congress having joined hands with Samajwadi Party, leaves the next month as a three-way tussle for control over India's most-populated state.