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Vande Mataram to be made compulsory in UP: BJP

Special Correspondent

Manifesto for polls also has `Surya Namaskar' in same vein

ALL SET FOR THE POLLS: BJP vice-president Venkaiah Naidu along with State party unit president Kesari Nath Tripathi (right) and Lalji Tandon releasing the party's manifesto in Lucknow on Monday. - PHOTO: SUBIR ROY.

LUCKNOW: In its manifesto for the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party has accorded top priority to law and order and ending the criminal-politician nexus in the State.

Releasing the document here on Monday, party vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu said "Surya Namaskar" and Vande Mataram would be made compulsory in all schools, Yoga education mandatory for students. Opposed to appeasement, the BJP would work for the welfare of all sections, he said.

The Ram temple finds a cursory mention in the manifesto, which says the party will strive to remove the hurdles to its construction. A special package of Rs. 500 crore each would be given to Ayodhya, Mathura, Kashi and Prayagraaj (Allahabad) for promotion of religious tourism.

New law likely

A law on the lines of the Prevention of Terrorism Act would be framed.

Forces patronising the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) would be identified and dealt with.Describing Chief Minister Mulayam Singh's unemployment dole scheme as a "trick", the BJP instead promised employment-oriented education for youth.

In a reference to suicide by farmers, the BJP said it would waive all loans due from the families of those who killed themselves in Bundelkhand and other regions of the state with the assurance of job for one member of the aggrieved family.

In a bid to remove backwardness, the Bundelkhand and Purvanchal, development authoritieswould be constituted.

Reservation for women

Women would be given 20 per cent reservation in government jobs, and 50 per cent quota in local bodieselections.

Girls who have passed higher secondary and are living below the poverty line would be given bcycles free.

On the health front, four postgraduate institutes of medical sciences would be established and by 2012 low-cost houses provided to the shelter-less.

Other features

Among the other features of the manifesto are that the Chief Minister would be brought within the ambit of the Lok Ayukta; madrasas would be modernised and efforts made to mainstream madarsa education; and the Bhagirati irrigation programme would be launched.

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