New Delhi, May 4: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released its manifesto for the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka. The party has named its manifesto #BJPVachana4Karnataka. While the launch of the election manifesto, Karnataka BJP chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa promised a slew of things if the party came to power in the upcoming polls in the state this year. Yeddyurappa promised to re-introduce the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Preservation Bill 2012.

Yeddyurappa said that the party is committed towards the welfare of the farmers. “Welfare of farmers has always been our priority. We will allocate Rs 1,50,000 Cr for various irrigation projects in Karnataka and ensure water reaches to every field in the state”, he said. “We are committed to reducing the burden of debt on our Annadaatas. We will announce a crop loan waiver upto Rs1 Lakh, including all loans from Nationalised Banks and Co-operatives, in our first Cabinet Meeting for the benefit of our Annadaatas”, he added.

Here are the highlights of the manifesto:

  1. Yeddyurappa said Rs 1.5 Lakh Crore “Sujalam Suphalam Karnataka Yojane” will complete all irrigation projects by 2023 wile the launch of “Mission Kalyani” will rejuvenate all tanks and lakes in the state.

  2. Taking about crimes on women, Yeddyurappa said if BJP comes to power in the state, it will form a Special Investigation Cell, under a woman Police Officer and employing 1,000 police women to investigate all pending crimes against women. He informed that an increase the amount payable at maturity under the Bhagyalakshmi scheme to Rs 2 Lakh.

  3. Provide free sanitary napkins to BPL women and girl students and at Rs. 1 for other women under the new “Stree Suvidha Scheme.”

  4. Launch the “Mukhya Mantri Smartphone Yojane” to provide women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families with free smartphones

  5. “Annadasoha” Scheme to ensure food security for all. Provide BPL card holders with free food items and APL card holders with quality food items at lesser rates

  6. Rs 1,500 Crore “Maharishi Valmiki Scholarship Scheme” to increase scholarships of ST students

  7. Rs 8,500 Crore “Madara Chennaiah Housing Scheme” to build modern housing for SC Communities. Rs 1,000 Crore “OBC Fund” to incentivise traditional occupations and ensure welfare of practitioners of traditional professions.

  8. Special coaching centres to prepare SC/ST/OBC/BPL students for entrance exams like JEE, CAT, KPSC and UPSC. BPL category students seeking higher education to get zero interest rate loans upto Rs 3 Lakh for degree and Rs 5 Lakh for integrated courses.

  9. Provide PhD students of Kannada language & literature with a scholarship of Rs 1 Lakh per annum from “Da Ra Bendre Scholarship Fund” and ensure that exams for all Govt jobs & entry into govt educational institutions are conducted in Kannada.

  10. Make Kannada a compulsory non-test introductory subject in all universities to help non Kannada speaking students. Sign MOUs with other states to offer Kannada as a second/ third language in their schools and as an optional subject in universities

To recall, polling for the 224-member assembly will be held Karnataka will be held on May 12 while counting is scheduled for May 15. In view of the upcoming polls slated for this month in Karnataka, both BJP and Congress are running an aggressive election campaign and leaving no stone unturned to woo voters in the state.

The assembly election in Karnataka is also likely to give an edge to the winning party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.  On Friday, the manifesto was released after paying homage to party sitting MLA and its candidate for Jayanagar constituency BN Vijaykumar, who died of a massive heart attack earlier this morning.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 04, 2018 01:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).