Congress releases manifesto for Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls

Bhopal, Nov 20 : Laying emphasis on the need to control inflation, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee released the manifesto of the Congress Party for the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.

Mukherjee claimed the Central Government has been successful in pegging down the annualized inflation rate to below ten percent. "At one point of time the rate of inflation was 12 percent, now it has come down to 9.8 percent in the last two weeks. And I do hope it would be possible for bringing the rate of inflation around six to seven percent in a couple of months," he said.

He also said that the civil nuclear deal inked with the US was in the national interest.

" We will have to look at some long-term programmes. When we signed nuclear agreement, there was lot of hue and cry but today it has been proved that it was not any country-specific. It was alleged that it was only for the US. But Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh first signed the agreement with France and not America. We will not get electricity from just one source, we need options," he added.

The election in Madhya Pradesh is a key test for the Congress party, which is seeking to unseat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government that is currently in power.

Elections to the 231-member assembly will be held on November 27.

ANI