Kejriwal terms BJP manifesto as fresh set of 'jumlas'

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday termed the BJP's manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as a "fresh set of jumlas" and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah did not have the courage to say why demonetisation was done and farmers were pushed towards destruction.

Reminding the prime minister of his party's 2014 promise of granting full statehood to Delhi, Kejriwal said the BJP's 2019 manifesto did not have any mention of it, which meant that Modi was lying and, in turn, making it even more difficult for people to believe him.

"BJP unveils a fresh set of jumlas without telling the country what is the fate of its 2014 jumlas. Modi-Shah don't have the courage to speak on why demonetisation was done? What happened to two crore jobs? Why were farmers pushed towards destruction?," the Delhi chief minister said in a tweet.

Eyeing to retain power, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made a plethora of poll promises on Monday, including expeditious construction of the Ram temple, firmly dealing with terrorism, doubling farmers' income in the next three years, making India the third-largest economy globally by 2030 and scrapping Article 370 of the Constitution that gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Modi released the 45-page manifesto titled "Sankalpit Bharat, Sashakt Bharat" in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah and other top leaders of the party, including Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, three days ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Delhi minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gopal Rai said people would not trust the BJP's manifesto and it had diminished the credibility of other parties' manifestos as well.

"People were hoping that Modi would provide a roadmap, give statistics of the so-called development done by him, but it turned out to be another bunch of jumlas (rhetoric)," he said.

Rai also asked the BJP about its 2014 promise of full statehood to Delhi.

The AAP social media team analysed the BJP manifestos for the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and found certain promises repeated.

"The BJP is committed to 33 per cent reservation (to women) in Parliament and state assemblies through a constitutional amendment. The BJP reiterates its stand on Article 370 and will discuss this with all stakeholders, and remains committed to the abrogation of this article," it said, naming some of those promises.

The Kejriwal-led party said Modi, who came to power riding on tall promises made by him during the 2014 election, now stood exposed as he had failed to deliver on all fronts.

"While he may have succeeded in fooling voters in 2014, this time Modi stands exposed as his failures are glaring at him in the face. His tendency to make outrageous claims and over-the-top promises has resulted in a total and complete loss of credibility on his part," the AAP said in a statement.