The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday brought out an election manifesto for the Chickballapur Lok Sabha constituency that featured promises such as building a ‘dry port’, setting up a Central Flower Board and taking up the Yettinahole project.
The manifesto released by the former Deputy Chief Minister R. Ashok in the presence of the party candidate in Chickballapur, B.N. Bache Gowda, lists the constituency’s potential in various fields and promises to take up different schemes to tap into it.
Proposing a dry port, which is an intermodal terminal connected to the sea port through road linkage, Mr. Gowda said such a cargo transhipment facility could also help in storage of goods.
“The dry port, which will be built on around 500 acres of land, can boost the economic development of this region by emerging as a prominent import-export centre of the country,” he claimed.
He also proposed setting up a mega dairy as well as units to produce milk powder and animal feed. Referring to the religious destinations of Nandi village and Ghati Subramanya in the constituency, he said he would take measures to develop them as heritage centres.
His other promises included setting up a university in the name of legendary technocrat Sir. M. Visvesvaraya, who hailed from this region, convincing the Centre to open Kendriya Vidyalayas in Chickballapur district and providing circular rail link to the region. Mr. Gowda evaded a question on the funds needed to implement these promises. He said that the were plans that could be implemented under various schemes of the Centre if the BJP was voted to power.
BJP State spokesperson S. Suresh Kumar termed the manifesto a roadmap for the development of the constituency.
Similarly, Mr. Ashok maintained that these poll promises were not exaggerated, but were ones that could be implemented.
