The BJP on Wednesday virtually laid out its election manifesto with its prime minister candidate L K Advani outlining “education”, “rural rejuvenation” and a “good governance plank reflecting the youth’s aspirations” as the essential ingredients for a prosperous India. Addressing industry captains while speaking on “Building India: Making Growth Inclusive and Sustainable” at the CII national conference, Advani delineated the party’s good governance model even as he flaunted Gujarat — and Chief Minister Narendra Modi — as an embodiment of the plank.“The licence-quota-permit raj may have made a partial or full exit from various sectors of the economy, (but) it is alive and kicking in the education sector — especially in higher and professional education. The private sector and philanthropic institutions will need to share the major economic cost of subsequent expansion and (capacity creation). These measures will ensure that our talented girls and boys are able to have adequate and quality seats in engineering, medicine, management, agriculture, veterinary sciences and scores of new areas that have sprung up in recent years. It will complement various constitutionally-mandated reservations, which are necessary for achieving the objective of social justice,” said Advani.“We shall increase the number of scholarships and attractive educational loans (in higher education). I believe that democratisation of education is the key to democratisation of social and economic growth. It will be our resolve to have the equivalent of the ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ in education and healthcare — towards the goal of Sushikshit Bharat, Swastha Bharat and Samruddha Bharat (educated, healthy and prosperous India),” Advani added.The BJP had promised a cyber café in every village in election-bound Karnataka. “The IT revolution must become inclusive and its fruits must reach every village. Apart from providing education and entertainment, and apart from serving as a centre for social and cultural activities, this community cyber café will provide information on agriculture, weather, prices, government schemes,” he said.The BJP’s PM-in-waiting said that the only way to ensure inclusive economic growth was through good governance, security, and zero tolerance to corruption. Referring to the T R Baalu affair, he said the “nation would have liked to know from the Prime Minister what nationally accepted norms of governance the government is following on certain crucial issues”.Advani added that even if the number of billionaires in India exceeded that in any other country by 2017, as predicted by Forbes, he wouldn’t be particularly happy. “I would be delighted if 10 years from now, we are able to eliminate abject poverty from India,” he said.
