Colour TV figures among Congress’s poll-eve promise in Karnataka

The Congress party came out with a tempting list of freebies including a colour television set for each family below poverty line to woo the electorate ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka.

The seven-point populist agenda announced by former Federal Minister and Chairman of the Congress party’s manifesto committee C K Jaffer Sharief in Bangalore includes 25 kilograms of rice every month at Rs 2 per kilogram and loans at a maximum interest rate of 3 per cent per annum to farmers, weavers, fishermen, shepherds, potters and self help groups.

Also, the Congress party has promised to extend the Yashaswini health insurance scheme, hitherto restricted to members of co-operative societies, to all persons below poverty line.

Seeking to address the issue of joblessness, Sharief said that all unemployed youth, who had passed tenth standard will be given a stipend of Rs 1,200 linked to a skill training programme. If voted to power, the Congress party also promised to waive the arrears due from beneficiaries of Ashraya and Indira Awaz housing scheme, besides constructing 1.5 million houses to the poor.

The Congress leaders have described the list of seven poll-eve promises as just “sneak preview”. The complete manifesto will be released at a mammoth farmers’ rally planned to be held in Davangere on April 13, said former Chief Minister S M Krishna, who was also present on the occasion.

But, the bouquet of promises so far announced by the Congress has been enough to rattle the rival BJP and the JD (S), who have sought to dismiss them as “gimmicks”.

The Congress leaders have rejected the apprehensions expressed by the rival parties that the populist schemes like giving colour television sets would drain the Government’s resources. “The purpose is to empower beneficiaries with knowledge so that they could make use of the Right to Information Act. Each colour television set would cost Rs 5,000 and the total number of television sets required will be 6 million”, former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said.

Krishna said the Congress party had the political will and the ability to mobilize the resources to implement the programmes that would be announced in the manifesto.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary in charge of Karnataka Prithviraj Chauhan and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Mallikarjun Kharge were also present when the seven-point agenda was announced by the Congress party in Bangalore.