BJP 2014 election manifesto: A hit or miss?

After the delay and drama, BJP has finally released its election manifesto --- the 42-page documents dubs the UPA's 10-year rule as a lost decade and vows to get India back on the high growth path. Taming inflation and creating jobs top the agenda. The BJP promises to crackdown on hoarding of food grains and vegetables and revive jobs growth in labour intensive sectors like manufacturing.

In a clear sign of winds of change within the BJP, the Ram Mandir issue is in the manifesto, but it has been relegated to the last page. The BJP promises to facilitate the construction of a temple in Ayodhya within the framework of the constitution.

Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education feels that the BJP manifesto demonstrates a tussle between the old conservatives and a new faction. The manifesto has a broad scope, but it is short on details and targets unlike the Congress manifesto which is very detailed, he told CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan in a panel discussion.

In an attempt to move away from the Congress Party's entitlement agenda--- the BJP promises fiscal discipline, proposing targeted subsidies only for those who desperately need it. "There are not many give-aways in the BJP manifesto unlike the Congress. It is much better in terms of fiscal conservativeness than other political parties," Pai added.

Meanwhile, the BJP accused the government of "tax terrorism" and proposes to rationalise and simplify the tax regime, but the manifesto is largely silent on the two major tax reforms.

The BJP promises to build consensus on the goods and services tax (GST), but does not give a timeline and the manifesto has no mention of the direct taxes code (DTC). The BJP is promising a non-adverserial and conducive tax environment, but hasn't talked about the retrospective tax amendments.

BJP's manifesto hints that there could be some moderation in tax rates, Samiran Chakraborty, Head of Research, Standard Chartered Bank said. However, the highlight of this manifesto is the how BJP is looking at a better centre state coalition to be formed, which can have a significant bearing on the finances of both the centre and the state, he Chakraborty added.

According to Sudhir Kapadia, National Tax Leader, EY it is realistic not to put a timeline to GST. "Promising GST within short number of days would be unrealistic," he said. "As far as the DTC is concerned, the three pillars laid out by the Kelkar committee should be kept in mind by the government which comes to power," he said.

Kapadia believes that it is gratifying to see that the tax policy has been given a prominent place in both the Congress and BJP manifesto.

The BJP proposes to revamp the entire public distribution system and create 100 new cities and vows to end the policy paralysis.

But, BJP's manifesto came as a complete disappointment for Sanjay Dutt, Director of Quantum Securities.

Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman, Feedback Ventures said the manifesto has some good ideas for the infrastructure space like substantive emphasis on railways. Further, bringing in a national land use policy and a national land authority that will monitor acquisition, is also a positive, he added. However, nothing much has been mentioned about revamping the power sector. Also, the idea of creating 100 new cities is too visionary to be practical, he said.

The BJP is in favour of universal food security, but the manifesto says laws will be reviewed for effective implementation. The party has stuck to its guns on opposing FDI in multi-brand retail, but says it favours FDI in other sectors.

Piyush Goyal, National Treasurer, BJP reiterated that the party is against FDI in multi-brand retail, but never opposed FDI in insurance per se. He added that an appropriate decision on Pension FDI would be taken when the party comes to power and that FDI is not a bigger issue, but economic growth is. Speaking about PSU divestments, Goyal said that profitability of PSU banks is important and not their shareholding.

The party has also laid out a plan to reduce the labour tensions in India Inc by creating "industry-family" bond between workers and owners. However, the BJP has retained two other promises that are now a feature in every manifesto--- uniform civil code, which the party believes will promote gender equality--- and abolition of section 370 that grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir. BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi asserted that the manifesto was more than a poll ritual.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Salman Anees Soz, who was also a part of the CNBC-TV18 panel discussion, said that BJP's manifesto looks like a copy-paste job from Congress manifesto.