India's ruling Congress party sought to capture the country's rural vote yesterday by promising cheap rice and credit to farmers if re-elected in polls that start in three weeks time.
In an election manifesto launched by Sonia Gandhi, party president, Congress vowed to expand rural welfare programmes, deepen interest relief on agricultural loans and distribute cheap food to the poor.
The party offered to raise wages under its “rural employment guarantee scheme” to Rs100 ($2) a day – from as low as Rs50 – and sell poor families 25kg of rice or wheat per month at 3 rupees a kilogramme, despite a widening fiscal deficit.
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