NEW DELHI, March 24: India’s ruling Congress Party today promised to provide rice and wheat at three rupees a kilo to poor families. If voted to power in the general election in April/May, the party promised to enact a Right to Food law, guaranteeing access to sufficient food to all people, particularly those living below the poverty line.

In its election manifesto released here today by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Party President Sonia Gandhi, the party promised to reserve one-third of jobs in the federal government to women. The party will also take steps to restore high economic growth with low inflation.

"Every family living below poverty line either in rural or in urban areas will be entitled, by law, to 25 kg of rice or wheat per month at Rs 3 per kg," said the party’s work programme for 2009-14.

The Congress further said its government will procure food crops from the farmers at their doorstep at the minimum support price to ensure that "farming becomes a profitable occupation".

The party accused the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being a divisive force, dubbed the "so-called" Third Front" as a "recipe for chaos," and sought to pitch itself as the party best equipped to deal "decisively" with the challenges of terrorism and "severe recession".

Ridiculing the BJP’s "muscular" foreign policy to deal with terror, the party said the country requires an "intelligent and wise" policy as practiced by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government over the last five years.

The party manifesto took credit for the "forceful diplomatic campaign" in the aftermath of last November’s suicide attacks on Mumbai, which led to Pakistan admitting for the first time that its nationals carried out the terror strikes. "That admission was a notable victory for our well thought out foreign policy," it said.

The party termed the just-floated Third Front as a grouping of "opportunistic parties" which has "neither competence nor commitment" and is "grounded in the politics of convenience".

Seeking to position itself as a bulwark against communalism, linguistic chauvinism, regional parochialism and casteism, the Congress termed the contest with the BJP as a "clash between two competing visions of Indian nationalism."

Attacking the Left parties, particularly for their stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Congress lashed out at their attempts to "exercise authority without taking on any responsiblity."

"At every step, they violated the discipline, restraint, sobriety so very essential for running a coalition smoothly," the manifesto said about the Left parties who supported the UPA government but withdrew last July in protest against the Indo-US nuclear agreement.

The manifesto, drafted by a team  headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, also claimed that the Left parties, which "pride themselves on being secular", had actively aligned with the BJP in the past and were "responsible" for the growth of the saffron party.

The Congress termed the Third Front, led by "prime movers" Left Front, as a recipe for political instability as it lacked a "national anchor". "It is a recipe for chaos, not cohesion," the manifesto said.

It sought to pat itself for striking a "balance" in policies in building a modern economy and imparting a new thrust to traditional industries, which is standing the country in good stead as the world experiences a severe recession.