Third Front's manifesto for Maharashtra

Regularising slums till January 1, 2009; providing reservation for Marathas and poor Brahmins; setting up a huge statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on the Arabian Sea and calling it the “Statue of Equality’’; distributing rice and wheat at Rs 2/kg and providing free education to all students till Class XII. These are some of the populist promises made by the Third Front leaders in its 20-page manifesto released in Mumbai on Tuesday. Front leader Ramdas Athavale initially announced that all slums in Mumbai would be regularised till December 31, 2009. When pointed out by the media that this would only encourage more migrants to come to the city, Athavale took a twominute break to confer with other party leaders present at the conference. “The cut-off date proposed by us now is January 1, 2009,’’ he then announced. Athavale said the Front proposes to build larger 450 sq ft houses, instead of the 269-sq ft homes provided under the slum rehabilitation scheme, but brushed aside questions on how this scheme would be a burden on the civic infrastructure, with a cheery: “We will take care of that.’’ He said that every person working in Mumbai had a right to a “pucca’’ house. And what about future migrants? “We will also give them a pucca house,’’ he promised. Republican Party of India (RPI) leader Jogendra Kawade promised to provide free medical facilities for every citizen in the state. “We also want every child in Maharashtra to get free education till Class XII,’’ he said. One of the grandiose plans of the Front is to set up a huge statue of Dr Ambedkar—along the lines of the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji statue—on the Arabian Sea. Other promises in the manifesto include fighting for the release of “innocent’’ Muslims who were arrested in the bomb blast cases in Maharashtra, opposing all SEZ projects, providing loans to farmers at a four per cent interest rate, handing out an aid package of Rs 1,000 to unemployed youth and more importantly, not hiking power tariff rates. While Kavade promised that the Front would generate more power, RPI leader Rajendra Gavai said it will bring down prices of essential commodities and ensure that there are no atrocities against dalits and Muslims in the state.