Amit Shah to release BJP manifesto for Jharkhand Assembly polls today
Ranchi (The Uttam Hindu): A day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jharkhand, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will release the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) manifesto and address three rallies in the poll-bound state on Sunday. Union Minister Shah arrived in Jharkhand's capital Ranchi on Saturday night. "Union Home Minister Amit Shah will release the "Sankalp Patra" for Jharkhand Assembly elections in Ranchi on Sunday. He will also address three rallies at Ghatshila, Barkatha, and Simaria Assembly constituencies during the day," the BJP said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jharkhand on November 4 and address two rallies. Prime Minister Modi's visit will be followed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is scheduled to hold a public meeting in Jamshedpur on November 5. Shah is likely to release 25 key points of the party's manifesto to underline 25 years of Jharkhand's formation and a 150-point document, marking the 150th birth anniversary of Birsa Munda, BJP leaders said.
Amit Shah will release the party's "Sankalp Patra," said BJP's Jharkhand election in-charge and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday. Announcing that PM Modi and Home Minister Shah will launch the BJP's Jharkhand campaign, Union Minister Chouhan made a call for a "double-engine" government in the state, claiming the "development work came to a standstill" under the Chief Minister Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-Congress government. Jharkhand will vote in the Assembly polls across two phases on November 13 and November 20, with counting on November 23.
The BJP will be looking to reverse its 2019 Assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha results. The party fell from 37 Assembly seats in 2014 to just 25 in 2019, losing out in tribal-dominated seats in particular. In the recent Lok Sabha polls, the NDA fell from 11 seats to eight but lost all Scheduled Tribe-reserved seats to the JMM and Congress. Recently, the BJP has been raking up the issue of conversions of tribals, besides attacking the ruling JMM government's record on development and corruption to swing the polls back in its favour. With Amit Shah and PM Modi visiting the state in quick succession, the party's campaign is likely to gain momentum. The JMM and the Congress, in the hopes of countering anti-incumbency, have been touting its welfare schemes, including the Maiyya Samman Yojna to grant women aged 18 to 50 Rs 1,000 per month in assistance.
