This is an election of parties, not of alliances, apparently. Thus for the first time since 1998, the Bharatiya Janata Party has released a manifesto rather than a vague statement of “vision” that awaits fleshing out in the National Democratic Alliance’s “National Agenda For Governance”. And, as with the CPM’s and the Congress’s manifestos over the past fortnight, a close reading of the manifesto provides both a sense of where the party’s thinking is on major issues — and a consequent mix of ideas, good and bad — as well as what political positioning it believes is most vital at this point.

The latter is most visible in the section of the manifesto that looks closely at economic matters. For example, the party has come down strongly against allowing foreign investment in the retail sector. Small retail vendors in particular are being targeted. The manifesto even proposes a special pension plan. This appears part of a larger effort to recapture the core constituency in the urban middle class. It dovetails well with their big-ticket plan that the income-tax exemption be raised to Rs 3 lakh. This is certainly a long-overdue rationalisation of the income tax slabs; for urban areas, in particular, the current exemption levels are far too low. The salaried class is clearly also in the BJP’s sights: the party says it will remove interest on bank deposits from the tax net, but only for those who don’t declare any business income.

The manifesto, however, isn’t quite as focused as it should be. Consider the strange approach to food security: in response to the Congress’s proposal that those below the poverty line have access to 35 kg of rice at Rs 3 a kg, the BJP has announced that it will make rice and wheat available at Rs 2 a kg. This goes beyond competitive populism to competitive foolhardiness. And a further agricultural loan waiver? Combined with a “maximum ceiling” of 4 per cent interest on further loans, these might suggest that the party hasn’t thought some of the fiscal implications through — especially given the conspicuous absence of a commitment to disinvestment. Unlike the UPA in at least one respect, the NDA is still planning a joint manifesto. What will be interesting to watch is which of the party’s core ideas are reiterated by the alliance.