Lucknow: The SP manifesto released on Friday bears the Akhilesh Yadav stamp at the same time retaining strong Mulayam Singh Yadav moorings. It promises tablets and laptops to students, talks of promoting English and implementing Sachar Panel recommendations that work out to roughly 18-19% quotas for Muslims.
The manifesto is being seen as a please-all document catering to all —from students to innocent Muslims languishing in prison on terror charges. But the big bait for youngsters is the promise of free tablets to every student passing Class X and a laptop to students clearing Class XII from government schools. The laptop-tablet move is clearly BlackBerry-wielding Akhilesh’s attempt to tear away from the party’s fuddy-duddy image. It overturns Mulayam’s earlier statement of intent where he said computers would be removed from government offices to ensure more jobs. His abhorrence for English is known. In a show of unity, the entire SP brass, including Mulayam,brother Ram Gopal and Azam Khan attended the manifesto release.
The Mulayam Singh populist stamp for minorities shows in the pledge that Muslim quotas would be based on population ratio, as suggested by the Sachar Panel. It also promises to implement the commission’s other recommendations at the state level.Among other pledges is a recruitment drive for Muslims in state security forces, a law to keep waqf property from acquisition, one on development of dargahs, special budgetary provisions for technical education in madrasas and inclusion of at least one Muslim member in all commissions and committees of the state. It promises waiving interest and penalty on outstanding power bills for industries like handloom, carpet and glass. And there’s free power to weavers.
SP promises to constitute a commission within three months of government formation to devise a formula to compute minimum support price of agricultural produce where 50% of the cost of production will be included as minimum profit for the farmers.
The manifesto is being seen as a please-all document catering to all —from students to innocent Muslims languishing in prison on terror charges. But the big bait for youngsters is the promise of free tablets to every student passing Class X and a laptop to students clearing Class XII from government schools. The laptop-tablet move is clearly BlackBerry-wielding Akhilesh’s attempt to tear away from the party’s fuddy-duddy image. It overturns Mulayam’s earlier statement of intent where he said computers would be removed from government offices to ensure more jobs. His abhorrence for English is known. In a show of unity, the entire SP brass, including Mulayam,brother Ram Gopal and Azam Khan attended the manifesto release.
The Mulayam Singh populist stamp for minorities shows in the pledge that Muslim quotas would be based on population ratio, as suggested by the Sachar Panel. It also promises to implement the commission’s other recommendations at the state level.Among other pledges is a recruitment drive for Muslims in state security forces, a law to keep waqf property from acquisition, one on development of dargahs, special budgetary provisions for technical education in madrasas and inclusion of at least one Muslim member in all commissions and committees of the state. It promises waiving interest and penalty on outstanding power bills for industries like handloom, carpet and glass. And there’s free power to weavers.
SP promises to constitute a commission within three months of government formation to devise a formula to compute minimum support price of agricultural produce where 50% of the cost of production will be included as minimum profit for the farmers.
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