NEW DELHI: India's prime ministerial frontrunner Narendra Modi pledged good governance and development Monday as he released his party's delayed manifesto that also included controversial Hindu nationalist policies.
Modi and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders unveiled their blueprint for government just hours after polls opened in the world's biggest election, which they are widely expected to win.
"Good governance and development (are) the two issues on which we are fighting these elections," Modi, the party's prime ministerial candidate, said at party headquarters in New Delhi.
The 52-page manifesto welcomed foreign direct investment by almost all companies - except by overseas supermarkets - in a bid to create much-needed jobs and kickstart the flagging economy.
The BJP also pledged to simplify the taxation system, review labour laws and focus on infrastructure such as new cities, high-speed railways and broadband Internet.
The right-wing party, voted out of power in 2004, also stuck to controversial Hindu nationalist ideals which worry religious minorities, particularly Muslims, in Hindu-majority but officially secular India.
The BJP committed to a longstanding demand for the building of a temple to honour the Hindu god Ram on the site of India's most notorious religious flashpoint.
The party in 1992 supported the destruction of Babri mosque believed to have been built over Ram's birthplace in the town of Ayodhya in northern India. Resulting riots left more than 2,000 people dead.
The manifesto also promised BJP support to end the slaughter of cows, which Hindus consider sacred, and to repeal special autonomous rights granted to Kashmir, the country's only Muslim-majority state.
The BJP also reiterated its intention to draft a uniform civil code for all Indians, a deeply sensitive and controversial issue which has always divided the population along religious lines.
The Indian constitution allows the country's billion-plus citizens to be governed by their own religious laws, a privilege enjoyed by minorities such as Muslims and Christians.
Senior BJP leader Murali Manohar Joshi said the Ram temple issue was included in the manifesto because it was "culturally important", but stressed that "Hindutva" (a Hindu nationalist agenda) was not on the election agenda.
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@AnonPak: Have you even been to India to say such thing.....Dont make up things allright...
@AnonPak: How come india is secular? Have you not read the article? It clearly states that india is a religious country and bjp wants to make it a secular country. Who says Indians don't eat meat. Everywhere within a 1 km you can find at least 2 restaurants selling beef.
And Indians like to call themselves secular! to be secular you have to believe in live and let live but no, not in India. In India states do not allow Muslims and other minorities to eat beef because the Hindus don't like it but they are still the biggest, greatest and the most secular democracy in the world. Shinning India!
@Dakshin: When the in-min- and tin people keep on making people wear their absolutely non sensical caps to make them secular, then we can at least paint things which we build!!!
Rumors are that all bridges and roads Modi is going to build will be saffron colored. Air India planes and Indian Railway trains will also be colored saffron. The saffron paint contract will go to Hindu paint companies.
Uniform Civil Code ........ I am for it.
Building Ram Mandir on the controversial site ....... I am not for it. They should build an University, library or even a factory on this site.
Slaughter of cows .......... Though I do not like killing of any animals, I have seen these animals living in much more pathetic situation in many places in India. They feed on garbage dumps and there is no one to care for them. This should be addressed first.