CMP panel to study BJP, JJP manifestos, check viability

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 24

Nearly a month after the Manohar Lal Khattar-led government took charge for its second innings in Haryana following a post-poll alliance between the BJP and the Jannayak Janta Party, the first meeting for the common minimum programme (CMP) will be held on November 28 between the two alliance partners.

Confirming this, Home Minister Anil Vij, also the chairman of the committee constituted to finalise the CMP, said the panel, which has two members each of the BJP and the JJP, will meet to “study” the manifestos of the two parties and workout their “feasibility”.

“There are about 400 promises made in the manifestos of the two parties. There are about 70 promises which are common to both. Ideally, going by the literal meaning, only the common demands should be drawn up as the programme of the alliance. However, we will study the financial implications of each one of them and develop a CMP,” he said.

At the meeting, the BJP will be represented by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar and former Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar, who has been included in the committee since he was a part of the manifesto committee of the BJP which prepared the draft for the 2019 assembly poll. The JJP will be represented by Minister of State Anoop Dhanak and former MLA Rajdeep Phogat.

The Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) will be a special invitee to the meeting since Vij wants to know the financial impact of each and every promise made in the manifesto before considering it for inclusion. “We are going to check their feasibility and then take an assessment on the legal implications of the promise concerned. We don’ want to include something which does not stand the legal test in a court of law,” Vij said, adding that the resources at the disposal of the government would also be verified before a promise finds its way into the CMP.

Since preparing the financial and legal impact will take time, the first meeting of the CMP is expected to be more about studying the two manifestoes and assigning work to the respective departments. “Once that is done and our homework on the subject is complete, we will hold successive meetings quickly and draw up the CMP,” the minister said.

The BJP which won 40 seats in the 90-member Vidhan Sabha fell short of a majority, forcing it to take the support of the JJP, which won 10 seats.