Setting aside tradition, the Congress on Friday released its manifesto in Mangaluru, a first outside of Bengaluru, and became the only party to have set an agenda for the polls till date.

Calling the manifesto as the 'Maan ki Baat' of people of Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi, the president of the Congress, said that manifesto has been aggrigated after taking into consideration the wish list of people from every walk of life.

Congress' Promise to Karnataka Voters

Launching an initiative for developing sustainable agri-business enabled through an ‘agricultural corridor for Karnataka’. All college students between 18 and 23 age will be given smart phones and work towards 100% electrification and metering of consumption.

Leverage IT for Better Governance

Enhance penetration of mobile governance, use of artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data analysis for better governance. To strengthen the single window clearance system for projects and developing single database for all departments to ease the delivery of services.

Focus on Healthcare

To raise budget allocation on healthcare from 0.9% to 1.5% of GDP in five years and setup cancer detection centres.

Expansion of IT sector

Target to increase IT contribution from $60 billion to $300 billion and IT skill development. Promise to provide 'Startup subsidy' of up to Rs 1 crore with a grant component of Rs 25 lakh and soft loan of Rs 75 lakh at the rate of 6%.

Infrastructure Development

Development of airstrips, Mangaluru port for exporting, usage of Rs 8,000 crore of mining fund for development of infrastructure in mining affected regions.

Irrigation and Rural Development

To spend Rs 125,000 crore for irrigation in the next five years and developing one smart village in each gram panchayat.

Employment Generation

Increase employability by 50% through skill development programmes, creation of 1 crore jobs in the next five years at the rate of 15-20 lakh annually and reduction of professional tax.

Focus on Women's Issue

The manifesto promises 50% subsidy to women friendly scooters for users in government and panchayats not exceeding annual income up to Rs 2.5 lakh; increasing widow pension from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000; abolishing taxes on sanitary pads and free sanitary pads distribution through Public Distribution System (PDS).