Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress (INC) have released their respective manifestos for the upcoming elections in Himachal Pradesh. The poll promises of the BJP include the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), 33% reservation for women in government jobs, and three free LPG cylinders per year for poor women. The INC has promised to reinstate the old pension scheme, disbursement of rupees 1,500 per month to all women between 18 to 60 years, and allocation of rupees 10 crores each for every assembly segment to facilitate the setting up of startup units.

The 11-point election manifesto of the BJP was released on November 6 by JP Nadda, national president of the party. 

“BJP not only achieved the goals it promised (earlier), it also went beyond delivering what it hadn’t promised in the last five years”, Nadda said while addressing the media. 

“The first commitment is that the BJP government will bring the UCC here. A committee of experts will be set up and according to their report, the UCC will be implemented in Himachal”, Nadda said. 

Nadda then released a separate manifesto for women. 

“We also promise 33 percent reservation for women in government jobs and an increase in allocation for girls for marriage from the earlier ₹31,000 to ₹51,000. We will also provide school girls, between classes 6 and 12, bicycles as well as interest-free loans to women entrepreneurs”, the BJP national president said.

“Three free LPG cylinders will be provided per year to poor women. Poor families will be enrolled in Atal Pension Yojana”, Nadda added. 

It was further said by Nadda that more than 8 lakh jobs will be provided in a phased manner, which would include government jobs and works underway in the economic zone.

“The BJP government will launch a ‘Shakti’ programme under which Rs 12,000 crore will be spent over 10 years to develop infrastructure and transportation around religious places and temples. They’ll be connected to the Himteerth circuit”, Nadda said.

Further, Nadda said that if voted back to power, five new medical colleges will be opened in the state, the ex-gratia payment for martyrs will be increased and a rupees 900 crore corpus will be provided for start-ups in the state under the HIM start-up scheme.

Nadda further added that the BJP government will also survey the Waqf properties in the state to check their illegal use.

The election manifesto of INC titled Himachal, Himachliyat aur Hum was released on November 5. The manifesto was released in the presence of Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, Himachal Congress Incharge Rajeev Shukla, state Congress president Pratibha Singh, Chairman of Congress Campaign Committee Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, and chairman of Manifesto Committee Dhani Ram Shandil. 

“This is not just a poll manifesto but a document prepared for the development and welfare of the people of Himachal Pradesh”, Shandil said.

INC in its manifesto has promised to restore the old pension scheme if voted back to power. Baghel said that although the Congress state governments of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have written to the Centre to return the people’s money with the National Pension System to implement the old pension scheme, they refused. 

“We will again write to the Central government and seek legal advice to implement the old pension scheme”, Baghel said.

Shukla said that an agriculture and growers committee will be set up with the representation of apple growers which will decide the price of fruits and crops.

“All transfers done by the Jairam Thakur government to harass officials will be revoked”, Shukla added. 

It has been promised by the INC that if voted to power, an Anti-Drug Abuse Enforcement Authority will be set up headed by a sitting high court judge to combat the problem of drug menace in the state. The party has also promised to set up a Youth Commission to look into all issues of education and employment generation. INC further announced the setting up of a Recruitment Board to ensure that all posts are filled up within six months of the advertisement.

The manifesto of the INC also includes the 10 guarantees announced by the party earlier, which include 300 units of free power, rupees 1,500 per month to all women between 18 to 60 years, and rupees 10 crores each for every assembly segment to facilitate setting up of startup units.

Voting for the state assembly in Himachal Pradesh will be done on November 12, 2022.