Reiterating its commitment to its core issues, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has promised to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Karnataka. Releasing its manifesto in Bengaluru for the upcoming 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections on Monday, May 1, the party announced that it would constitute a high-level committee for this purpose. In addition to this, the party has also promised the introduction of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Karnataka to ensure the speedy deportation of illegal immigrants. The BJP has also promised to create a special wing in the Karnataka police called ‘Karnataka-State Wing against Religious Fundamentalism and Terror (K-SWIFT)'.
The UCC is imagined as a law that will overrule religious laws in the country which deal with matters related to property, inheritance, marriage, divorce and adoption. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has been promising the implementation of UCC in the state ever since he took charge as CM.
Their top promises include providing three free cooking gas cylinders for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families annually, with one each for Ugadi, Ganesh Chathurthi and Deepavali. They also plan to set up Atal Aahara Kendra, a canteen providing subsidised food, in every ward of every municipal corporation, and a scheme where half a litre of Nandini milk will be provided every day to BPL families and 5 kg of rice and grains monthly.
The BJP has also promised to improve the ‘ease of living’ for apartment dwellers in Bengaluru by forming the Karnataka Residents’ Welfare Consultative Committee to make changes to the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act of 1972. The BJP has also promised to constitute a committee for granting complete autonomy for temple administration to devotees and for regulating local businesses around the temples to create a sustainable temple economy.
The BJP, currently in power in Karnataka, highlighted its achievements over the past term and outlined its plans for the future in the manifesto.
The manifesto was released by BJP national president JP Nadda in the presence of BJP State President Nalin Kumar Kateel, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, former Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa, D V Sadananda Gowda, Shobha Karandlaje and others.