He BJP Manifesto for Karnataka Elections released on Monday is a mix of Hindutva demands and welfare promises. Yet it hardly echoes the aspirational speech Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes at his election rallies in the state, though he has described the manifesto as “development-focused.” Nor does it meet the demands of a state that has lagged behind even its southern neighbors in human development indices, including in health, education, nutrition, etc. Publishing the manifesto, party chairman JP Nadda said: “Our manifesto is a vision document. for a developed Karnataka. It embraces a forward-thinking approach and promises to fulfill the aspirations of everyone in Karnataka.” It’s hard to see how. There are the stock promises straight out of the polarizing playbook, coming out of the hijab debates, the Muslim reservation, etc. As for the welfare and development initiatives, they seem more like a response to criticism that Basavaraj Bommai’s government achieved little in office. .
At the top of the promise list is a Uniform Civil Code and a National Register of Citizens (NRC). Why would Karnataka, a southern state with no international borders, be interested in an NRC considering that the exercise is meant to identify illegal immigrants? The party also vowed to establish a panel “to give devotees complete autonomy in temple management” and to regulate “local businesses around temples to create a sustainable temple economy.” The reference to the temple economy comes in the context of Hindutva groups demanding that the government should “ban” Muslims from having shops on temple premises or setting up shops during temple fairs. These promises, such as the campaign argument around the laws regarding the ban on cattle slaughter and conversion and Muslim quotas, may resonate with the BJP’s core base. However, this is unlikely to prevent the fight against incumbency in the middlemost voter who struggles with a sluggish economy, lack of decent jobs, and crumbling public infrastructure. The welfare guarantees, such as free LPG cylinders and milk, are more an attempt to account for earlier stances. Take the pledge of half a liter of Nandini milk daily to BPL families under Poshan Yojana. This has the hallmarks of a defensive gesture as the Opposition had accused, with more rhetoric than reality, that the BJP government was planning to merge the state-run Karnataka Milk Federation’s Nandini dairy brand with Gujarat’s Amul. Similarly, Atal Aahara Kendras’ pledge to provide “affordable, quality and hygienic food” in all boroughs is just a reiteration of a 2018 article, the Annapoorna canteen, which didn’t take off. Indira canteens, established in 2017 in Bangalore when Siddaramaiah was the prime minister, is in disrepair.
Manifestos are often academic exercises, and with only nine days to vote, this is not the document that can fire the imagination of a state that, by most accounts, is seeking change. That being said, the BJP he is likely to rely on his formidable influence and organizational resources and, of course, the energy of his core leadership and the prime minister’s personal drive to stave off incumbent opposition. What will matter will be a report card of his five years in office: this manifesto is a postscript, at best.
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