New Delhi, April 8: Days ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its 'Sankalp Patra' or manifesto at party headquarters in the national capital on Monday. The Sankalp Patra aims to focus on issues of development and national security with its motto 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP  chief Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh launched of the manifesto in New Delhi along with members of the BJP’s parliamentary board, its apex body. BJP Releases Official Logo and Slogan For Election Campaign Ahead of Lok Sabha Elections 2019, Watch Video.

In its manifesto, BJP promises to abrogate Article 35 A in its Sankalp Patra. "We are committed to abrogation of Article 370 and annuling Article 35A of the Constitution of India as the provision is discriminatory against non-permenant residents and women of Jammu & Kashmir. Article 35A is obstacle in the development", the BJP Sankalp Patra stated.

At the launch of the much-awaited manifesto, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, 'With all our promises, made in this manifesto, we are taking a step towards building a 'New India.'' Talking on the menace of terrorism, Singh said, "We had a zero tolerance policy towards terrorism, it will continue till terror is not eliminated completely".

The Home Minister added saying that the Citizenship Amendment Bill will be passed from both the houses and BJP is committed to preserve the cultural identities of states. Meanwhile, BJP President Amit Shah said that party is going forward with 75 resolutions that will be fulfilled by the year 2022 when India completes 75 years of independence.

Take a Look at The Key Points in the Sankalp Patra:

On Sunday, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley unveiled campaign themes and other materials of the party’s election campaign, with “Phir ek baar, Modi sarkar (Modi government, once more)” as the tag line. The release of BJP's manifesto comes days after the Congress party promised a slew of measures, especially for the poor in the country.

In January, the BJP had said that this year that the party will crowdsource its manifesto for the Lok Sabha election 2019. It had also said it will hold events across the country over the next few months to get inputs from different sets of voters for the purpose. Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Dates Announcement by ECI Highlights: Mumbai Votes on April 29, Delhi on May 12; Check Constituency-Wise Voting Schedule.

The 20-member manifesto committee included Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Nirmala Sitharaman, Thaawarchand Gehlot, Piyush Goyal, and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. It also had former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bihar’s deputy chief minister Sushil Modi, his Uttar Pradesh counterpart, Keshav Prasad Maurya, among its members.

Polling for Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases on April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19. The counting of the votes will take place on May 23, 2019.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 08, 2019 11:57 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).