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Patna,(BiharTimes): Like Janata Dal (United) a day before the Bharatiya Janata Party, a ruling partner, came out with a much delayed manifesto with no mention to the most contentious issue of bataidari (sharecropping). Instead the party promised to distribute free goats to the 1.5 crore families living below poverty line in Bihar.
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Releasing the party’s manifesto in the presence of former party president M Venkaiah Naidu deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi announced that
their government would also distribute free spectacles to the BPL families after their regular eye check-ups.
He said the goats would become a source of income for the poor families as they can sell their milk.
There will be no expenditure on maintenance of goats, which are considered a status symbol in villages, he said and added the state government will bring goats from other states for the purpose.
According to the manifesto arrangement will be made at the village level for circulation of 50 per cent of the kids born to the distributed goats to other targeted beneficiaries. Modi explained that the beneficiary can keep half of the newborns.
The idea of distributing goats has been borrowed from the Chhattisgarh BJP, which in 2003 election manifesto promised free distribution of cows to 30 lakh BPL families, mostly tribals. They were brought from Haryana and Gujarat for the purpose.
As the Chhattisgarh experiment failed the Bihar BJP decided to distribute goat, instead of cow.
In Chhattisgarh a large number of cows died during transportation and those distributed could not be maintained by the poor tribals. Many of them died due to starvation and lack of veterinary care.
Incidentally, the BJP manifesto of Bihar also promises strict enforcement of the Act pertaining to ban on cow slaughter and also amendment to the Gaushala (Cowshed) Act of 1954.
The manifesto also calls for the creation of a Ramayana tourist circuit that would cover the historical places related to the Ramayana, including the birthplace of Sita at Sitamarhi and Deoghar and Gaya. A separate authority on the pattern of Vaishno Devi Temple Authority will be set up at Gaya to develop places related to the annual Pitripaksha Mela during which Hindus perform rituals for salvation of their ancestors’ souls.
Incidentally, the BJP manifesto was released after the campaigning for the first phase of election to 47 seats ended in Bihar. RJD-LJP combine and the CPI ML are the only parties which released manifesto much before the election process actually started. Not surprisingly, the Congress is yet to come out with its own manifesto.
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