This Article is From Jan 24, 2015

With Promises of Cheap Power and Cyber Cafes with Wi-Fi, Congress Releases Manifesto for Delhi Polls

With Promises of Cheap Power and Cyber Cafes with Wi-Fi, Congress Releases Manifesto for Delhi Polls

Extension of Delhi Metro and concessional passes for students also figure in the manifesto

New Delhi: Cheap power, relief from inflated water bills and cybercafes with Wi-Fi are among the Congress party's promises to voters ahead of the February 7 Delhi assembly polls.

Releasing its manifesto on Friday, the party announced its main offering to the people of Delhi with its campaign slogan "Congress Lao Aur Rs. 1.5 pe bijlee pao (Vote Congress and get power at Rs 1.5 a unit)." The dirt cheap rates are only for those consuming up to 200 units of electricity.

The Congress also said it would extend the Delhi metro network and provide free concessional passes to students.

"We are not offering the Red Fort and Qutab Minar. We are only promising what we can deliver," said senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, who is leading the party's campaign in Delhi.

The Congress ruled Delhi for 15 years, with Sheila Dikshit as chief minister, until it lost the state polls in December, 2013.

Scoffing at promises made by the Aam Aadmi Party, Mr Maken said, "Some parties have been promising things which aren't even in their power".

The Congress manifesto promises free sewer connections, a hike in pensions and a rise in the salary of 'anganwadi' workers.

Matching AAP's offer of "free WiFi across the city", the Congress pledged to open Internet cafes for students, with free Wifi.

The party has also said it will regularise 895 unauthorized colonies, which have for years been denied legal water and power connections and other civic facilities.

In the previous elections, the Congress placed a distant third with only eight seats in the 70-member Delhi assembly; the AAP won 28 seats while the BJP won the most number of seats, 31, but no party won a clear majority.

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