In an apparent effort to disprove the perception that the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) is micro-managing the affairs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party has started a participatory campaign to draft its manifesto for the 2014 general elections.
The campaign, however, is being launched with the pre-condition that the party’s stand on Article 370, uniform civil code and the Ayodhya dispute is non-negotiable.
The chairman of the manifesto committee of the BJP, Murli Manohar Joshi, said the BJP wants the manifesto toreflect the aspirations of the masses. The BJP is the first party to draft a manifesto through a participatory process, he added. Joshi said his panel will receive suggestions from the public, for which a Web site has also been launched. The party’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, has called for the transformation of representative democracy into participatory democracy, Joshi added.
“We will consider each suggestion with care,” he said. Joshi said suggestions to improve governance, security, economy, infrastructure, health and education will be invited from the public. The party’s panel will travel to State centres to collect opinions from various stakeholders, including industry organisations.