Mumbai: The Congress-NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) alliance today (Oct 1, 2004) released a joint manifesto for Maharashtra Assembly polls, announcing free power to farmers, women & youth welfare and infrastructural improvement in Mumbai among other things, but skipped the controversial Vidarbha statehood issue and loan-waiver to farmers.

Releasing the manifesto in Mumbai, AICC (All India Congress Committee) general secretary, Margaret Alva, said the manifesto attempted to meet the expectations of people of all strata of the society.

Although the manifesto skipped Vidarbha issue, the DF (Democratic Front) alliance has promised removal of developmental backlog of backward regions like Vidarbha by making special budgetary allocation.

To alleviate the plight of farmers in Vidarbha, many of whom have committed suicides, the DF alliance has decided to continue the cotton monopoly purchase scheme, promising an assured price of Rs 2700 per quintal.

In an attempt to upset the Sena-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) poll calculations in Mumbai, and to garner votes of slum-dwellers, the DF alliance has also announced that it will legalise all slums in Mumbai that have come up till year 2000.

The saffron combine had promised to regularise slums that had come up only till 1995, and had categorically announced that there will be no further extension.

The manifesto also announced that it would construct a grand statue and memorial of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji in the Arabian sea, similar to the Vivekananda's memorial at Kanyakumari.