Congress releases election manifesto; Rahul Gandhi says BJP's 'balloon will explode'

NEW DELHI: Releasing the Congress party manifesto for Lok Sabha polls, party President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said, "Congress has always tried to live up to the expectations of the people of the nation." Among other things, Congress has promised right to health and housing in its manifesto.

Talking about the manifesto Gandhi said, "We adopted a new way of drafting our manifesto. Rahul Gandhi discussed & took suggestions from people across the nation." "We want an India which is secular, where which religion you follow or which language you speak is not important," she added.

Stating that the manifesto is 'truly the voice of the people of the nation', Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said, "We believe that for this country to grow there must be firm partnership between the industry and poor." "The voice of the people of this country is there in the Congress manifesto," Rahul added.

Rahul Gandhi challenged the perception that BJP was most likely to win the Lok Sabha election and said "this balloon will explode". Gandhi said that BJP's claims now were akin to the "India Shining" ad blitz it carried out ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha battle that the BJP lost to the Congress.



Watch: Congress 2014 polls manifesto





"When it comes to perception, the 'India Shining' campaign was a brilliant campaign. Everyone including you was convinced that the BJP was winning..."

"The BJP has the ability to carry out India Shining campaigns... I am sure this balloon will explode." Rahul Gandhi went on to say, "Modiji represents a thought process which is exclusionary, which pits people against each other."

The manifesto pledges to restore growth above 8% in the next 3 years. Pitching for the same Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, "Growth has many dimensions, I am glad that Congress manifesto spells the vision for growth and job creation in great detail."

"We lifted 14 crore people out of poverty, our growth record is better than NDA," Singh said. "We ensured that growth reached all sections of society," he added.

In a dig at the Narendra Modi Gujarat model of growth, Singh said, "Today we hear about Gujarat Model, but there is only one model, the Congress model, Growth with Equality." "We provided an agenda for growth. Only Congress model can proving lasting growth," Singh said.