DHAKA: India’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has promised growth and development with a plan to build 100 new cities and allow foreign investment in various sectors including defense in its manifesto released on the first day of polling on Monday.

The manifesto, a governance plan for the party that is widely tipped to win power after the final phase of polling ends on May 12, also pledges a relook at the country’s nuclear doctrine for both the military and civilian sectors.

As voters in six constituencies in the remote north-eastern states of Assam and Tripura went to the polls, the BJP’s top leadership, including its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and party patriarch LK Advani, gathered in the capital New Delhi to release the policy statement.

The BJP’s fortunes, boosted by Modi’s vaunted success as Gujarat state’s governor in growing its economy, have risen as the ruling Congress party in its current term has been hit by a slowing economy, price rises of essential items such as rice and cooking oil and high inflation.

Congress’ credibility has also been dented by a string of corruption scandals involving ministers and bureaucrats, from the sale of telecommunications 2g spectrum licenses to contracts awarded during the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the allocation of coal mining blocks.

BDST: 2026 HRS, APR 07, 2014