The Hindu nationalist opposition party tipped to win India’s election has sparked concern with a manifesto which, though largely devoted to economic development, setss out uncompromising hardline positions on contentious issues and raises the prospect of a revision of the country’s policy on use of its nuclear weapons.
The election, a six-week process which is expected to see more than 600 million people vote, started on Monday with millions in the country’s remote north-east going to the polls
Surveys predict a big win for the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) – whose prime ministerial candidate is the controversial Narendra Modi – though not an absolute majority in the 545-seat lower house of the national assembly.
The long-awaited BJP manifesto includes hundreds of policy initiatives including bullet trains, investment in job creation, water connections for every household, increased local defence production and funds to boost the practice of yoga.
But it was commitments to draft a “uniform civil code” – legislation that would withdraw the rights of India’s 150 million Muslims to follow their religion-based law – and to “explore all possibilities” to build a Hindu temple at the bitterly contested site in the northern town of Ayodhya, which drew most attention internationally.
source: theguardian
Tags: BJP, Indian Elections 2014, Latest Politics N, Narendra Modi, Politics, Rajnath
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