Will develop Varanasi into spiritual capital: AAP

In a 15-point Varanasi-specific manifesto, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has promised to develop the temple town into the “country’s spiritual capital”. The party vowed if its convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, won from that constituency, it would give the town the status of “sarvadharma pavitra nagri (the holy city of all religions)”.

In Varanasi, which goes to the polls on May 12, Kejriwal is contesting against Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate. “A special financial package will be arranged from state and central governments to prioritise the cleaning of the Ganga, the development of ghats, cleanliness, Panchkoshi Marg’s revival and focus on water, road and electricity in rural parts,” said the party’s seven-page manifesto for Varanasi, released by senior AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Anand Kumar, Yogendra Yadav, Rajmohan Gandhi and Ashutosh.

The party would work towards providing Varanasi a world heritage city tag, said the manifesto, prepared after collecting feedback from locals.

Apart from concerns related to roads, water and electricity, the manifesto was vocal about the three primary issues of “sewer, weaver and river” — the decrepit sewage system, the resultant pollution of the Ganga, and the problems of the city’s silk weavers. The manifesto said to address these issues, the party would ban the use of plastic products, find solutions to address pollution of the Ganga “irrespective of the cost involved in the process”, and set up a sewage treatment plant, among other steps.

The party plans to address the concerns of weavers, who form a large chunk of the city’s population. About 200,000 of Varanasi’s inhabitants are weavers, mostly Muslims.

AAP assured weavers it would set up a thread and a finishing plant and provide raw material to “raise the competitive level of locals with weavers of other states”. It would also increase the supply of electricity, as this would lead to a revival of various businesses in the city, the party said.

Another key element in the party’s Varanasi manifesto was the conversion of the Institute of Medical Sciences, a unit of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), into an All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Earlier, BHU had been given the tag of an Indian Institute of Technology, following passage of the Institute of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2011.

The party also said it would crack down on the rampant corruption in BHU and seek a thorough investigation into the matter.

The manifesto added AAP would revive the pending monorail and ring-road projects in Varanasi. It also announced benefits for the city’s farmers, toy makers and fishermen.