The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released its manifesto for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, promising, among other things, cooking gas cylinders at ₹450 under the Ujjwala Yojana, pucca houses to the 13 million beneficiaries of the Ladli Behna scheme, and free education till the post-graduation level for girls from underprivileged families, in a major outreach for women voters.

In its 96-page manifesto, released by party president JP Nadda, the BJP also promised higher minimum support price (MSP) for wheat and paddy and employment opportunities for at least one member of every family.

Releasing the document in Bhopal, Nadda said, “The importance of the manifesto, Sankalp Patra, has been declining slowly along with time because political parties first attract people and then forget. (They) make promises, forget, and mislead the public. But the BJP is the only party that has implemented the manifesto in letter and spirit. It is our track record.”

The party’s manifesto committee received over 900,000 suggestions, he said.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnav, Prahlad Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste, and state BJP president VD Sharma were also present on the occasion.

The manifesto, which the party called “Madhya Pradesh Sankalp Patra 2023 (Modi’s Guarantee, Trust in BJP, Madhya Pradesh Sankalp Patra 2023)”, incorporated 10 main resolutions — which include the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for five years to provide free ration to all the poor families, homes to every family and provision of subsidised foodgrains.

The manifesto promised an MSP of ₹2,700 per quintal for wheat and ₹3,100 per quintal for paddy. Notably, the Congress has promised an MSP of ₹2,600 for wheat.

The PM Kisan Samman and CM Kisan Kalyan Yojana, under which farmers get a total of ₹12,000 per year, would continue, the BJP manifesto said.

Under the Lakhpati Didi Yojana, the manifesto promised skill training to 1.5 million women and ₹2 lakh to beneficiaries of Ladli Laxmi Scheme till the age of 21 years. Women form 48% of the eligible voters in the state.

If elected to power for another term, the party also promised to set up technological institutes on the lines of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and medical institutions on the lines of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Madhya Pradesh; six new expressways; and a budget of ₹3 lakh crore for the empowerment of tribal communities. Tribals account for 21% of the state’s population.

On the education front, the party promised to pay ₹1,200 per year to every student for uniform, books and school bags. A medical college will be set up in every Lok Sabha constituency and 2,000 medical course seats will be added, the manifesto said, besides promising to set up a nursing college in every district.

Free ration for the poor under the public distribution system will continue for five years, houses will be provided to all eligible families under the PM Awas Yojana, and the CM Jan Awas Yojana will be launched, it said.

Besides foodgrains, mustard oil, pulses and sugar will be provided at subsidised rates, the manifesto said.

The economy of Madhya Pradesh will be expanded to ₹45 lakh crore in seven years to make it one of the top three economies in the country, the manifesto said. It also promised to double the income of the people and bring in investments of ₹20 lakh crore.

A hundred units of electricity will be provided at ₹100 under the Atal Griha Jyoti Yojana, it said.

Several schemes, like ₹10,000 to youths under the Mukhyamantri Seekho Kamao Yojana and LPG cylinders under the Ujjwala Yojana, announced by Chouhan’s government earlier were also listed as promises under the manifesto.

Chouhan said the manifesto will act as the BJP’s roadmap for development of the state.

“It is the guarantee of PM Modi that we will make this manifesto our road map for the development of Madhya Pradesh and for the welfare of the people of the state. I have a feeling of satisfaction when I say that, whatever we thought and said, we tried to fulfil it. When we noticed that girls were killed in the womb. We made a policy like the Ladli Laxmi Yojana,” he said.

Speaking after the launch of the BJP manifesto, state Congress president Kamal Nath said, “The BJP manifesto doesn’t promise jobs to youths, dignity to sisters, farmers loan waiver, old pension scheme to employees, reservation to OBC, clearance of backlog posts. The BJP is trying to mislead people of the state.”

Madhya Pradesh, one of the five states electing new assemblies this winter, will vote in a single phase on November 17 and the counting of votes will take place on December 3.