The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday promised free LPG cylinders annually — One each during Onam and Christmas – For poor families, Bhakshya-Arogya Suraksha card with monthly recharge of $2,500 to women from poor families, BPL and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) as it issued a 16-point manifesto for the April 9 Assembly elections.
The manifesto, unveiled by BJP national president Nitin Naben in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram, was described as a blueprint for 2026-31 for ‘Vikasita Keralam’ (advanced Kerala), and also promised a monthly welfare pension of Rs. $3000, $20,000 liters of free water per household and a new high-speed rail network.
In his speech, after issuing the statement, Nabeen claimed that the decades of successive LDF and UDF governments in Kerala had led to “negligible industrial growth, economic stagnation and financial mismanagement in the state”.
He also accused the two fronts of following an appeasement policy towards a particular community, which hurts the sentiments of other religions and beliefs, and promised that the NDA is committed to ensuring transparency, accountability and greater participation of devotees in the affairs of shrines in Kerala.
“We will protect Sabarimala, Guruvayur and all other places of worship by revamping Devaswom Boards to increase participation of devotees in temple management,” he said. The statement also promised to launch the ‘Sabarimala Infrastructure Development Mission’, a CBI probe into the gold theft and large-scale infrastructure development focusing on devotees at the hilltop shrine.
One of its key promises is to deliver ‘Bhakshya Arogya Suraksha Card’ to every woman from poor and BPL families with monthly recharge. $2500. The card can be used in pharmacies and grocery stores, which protects beneficiaries from price fluctuations in the market.
The other crucial announcement is to raise monthly social welfare pensions to $3000 from the current $2000 was disbursed by the LDF government. The pension will be paid to all women who head poor families, elderly people over 70 years of age and widows.
On the agriculture front, the party promised minimum support price for all crops requiring subsidy and amendment of existing forest and land laws to allow plantation farmers to go for multi-crop farming.
If elected to power, the BJP announces that it will set up an AIIMS hospital, a long-awaited demand of the state. Although the LDF government has identified land for setting up AIIMS in Kinnallur of Kozhikode district, discussions with the Union government have not been fruitful. The BJP also promised a high-speed rail corridor between Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur, completion of all phases of Kochi Metro and additional metro services in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.
In the long-awaited struggle over Mullaperiyar Dam, the BJP promised safety to the people of Kerala and water to the people of Tamil Nadu.
