Himachal Pradesh: BJP gets more than 25,000 suggestions from public, to release manifesto in a week

BJP chairman for election manifesto committee, Dr Sikander Kumar, opened the suggestion boxes for the vision paper at the party office on Thursday. Kumar, a Rajya Sabha member, said that the boxes were placed in publicity vehicles that had been deployed by the BJP in multiple districts.

The boxes arrived at the party headquarters in Chakkar, Shimla. The party collected 20,000 hard copies of suggestions from the boxes, while more than 5,000 suggestions were given online, officials said.

A large number of suggestions were received for BJP election manifesto, with participation from college students, farmers, government employees, businessmen, SC, ST, OBC communities and other sections, Dr Kumar said.

The nature of the suggestions includes demand for roads, street lights, access to public toilets and increase in the number of educational institutions, among others, Dr Kumar added.

Dr Kumar, who was the 26th vice-chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University, said that BJP will launch its manifesto within a week in the presence of HP Chief Minister Jairam Thakur and BJP state president Suresh Kashyap.

“There has been an overwhelming response from the people. The manifesto is for the people and by the people. We will continue to take suggestions in order to curate the document as per the needs of people,” said Dr Kumar.

The party has also taken suggestions from office-bearers and party workers for deciding HP election candidates. The officials have stressed that these exercises are a means to establish intra-party democracy and to send out a message that everyone’s voice is included in decision-making.