Congress says BJP should have come up with 'maafinama' instead of manifesto, AAP calls document 'fresh set of jumlas'

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday released its manifesto or ‘sankalp patra’, with development and national security being on top of its agenda, leaders across the political spectrum minced no words in criticising the ruling party.

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said the BJP should have come out with a maafinama (letter of apology) instead of a manifesto.

In a series of tweets, Patel said that the difference between the BJP’s poll document and that of the Congress was evident from the cover page itself.

“Ours has a crowd of people, and BJP manifesto has the face of just one man. Instead of a manifesto, BJP should have come out with a ‘maafinama’,” the Congress Rajya Sabha MP said.

For its 2019 manifesto, BJP has simply copy pasted its 2014 manifesto & changed all previous deadlines from 2019 to 2022,2032,2047,2097

Luckily they didn’t shift any deadlines to the next century

— Ahmed Patel Memorial (@ahmedpatel) April 8, 2019

Taking to Twitter, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the BJP unveiled “a fresh set of jumlas without telling the country what is the fate of its 2014 jumlas.”

मोदी सर,

आपने 2014 में दिल्ली वालों को पूर्ण राज्य का वादा किया था। पर आपने नहीं किया। अब आपने अपने मैनिफ़ेस्टो में से ही हटा दिया? ये तो सरासर दिल्ली वालों के साथ धोखा है। इसका मतलब आप अपने मैनिफ़ेस्टो में झूठ बोलते हो। तो फिर आपके बाक़ी वादों पर भी जनता कैसे यक़ीन करे? https://t.co/PSHsXx4VER

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 8, 2019

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah took the opportunity to lash out at the BJP over its stance on Article 370 of the Constitution. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik’s statement that there was no threat to Article 370 in the state, Abdullah said that the BJP should send him a copy of its manifesto.

Recently J&K Governor claimed there was no threat to Art 370 & 35-A and that parties like mine were only using them to drum up fear in the elections. I hope his colleagues in the BJP send him a copy of their manifesto.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) April 8, 2019

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be thrown out of power and politics. “Modi did not have time to look after the farmers and the middle class, as he was busy touring the globe for 4.5 years of his five-year term,” Mamata said in a rally in North Bengal’s Nagrakata.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Cooch Behar: Did PM even give a single penny for West Bengal? The person who makes such big claims must see what he has contributed towards Bengal.He was busy in foreign tours for five years and now he saw the need to come here pic.twitter.com/9PiM0y4Z7F

— ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2019