MP's Cong manifesto a new fraud: Ananth

Bhopal, Nov 19 (UNI) Terming the Congress manifesto, released today for the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, as ''a new fraud'' the Bharatiya Janata Party's Madhya Pradesh in-charge General Secretary Ananth Kumar alleged that the Congress was attempting to fool the people.

''The Congress has presented a fresh fraud and the state's people will give a fitting reply at the hustings. This manifesto is nothing but emotional blackmailing of the poor,'' Mr Kumar told reporters while comparing the Congress' 1993 and 1998 manifestoes.

''Yeh ghoshnapatra nahi hai balki dhokhapatra hai (this is not a manifesto but a document of fraud),'' he quipped while claiming that the Congress had promised the very same issues in those earlier manifestoes but failed to deliver.

Referring to the BJP manifesto, released some days back, Mr Kumar said that the party promised things that it could afford to fulfil and not made any false promise.

Alleging that the Congress promised free power for irrigation pumps upto 5 horsepower, interest-free loans to farmers, free salt, wheat at Re 1 per kg, kerosene at Rs 2 per litre in 1993 and 1998 as well but failed to deliver during the Digvijay Singh regime's 10-year rule, he slammed the Congress for delay in announcing implementation of the Sachar Committee Report.

Launching an attack on the Centre for its economic policy, Mr Kumar alleged that Finance Minister P Chidambaram brought about the country's economic ''breakdown.'' To a query, he denied that the BJP had sold assembly election tickets and claimed, ''we distributed tickets in democratic way.'' UNI BDG AC 1805