Rice @ Rs 3 gamble: BJP set to outsmart Congress

The Congress kicked off its election campaign on Tuesday with the promise of enacting a National Food Security Act as per which every family living below the poverty line in both rural and urban areas will be entitled to 25 kg of rice or wheat per month at Rs 3 a kg.
The BJP, which is yet to release its manifesto, looks set to respond with a similar scheme with food grain for the poor at even cheaper rates. Though the Congress governments in states have made such promises in the run-up to the polls, it is for the first time that the party is replicating the exercise in a general election. The manifesto doesn't reveal what will be the financial commitment of the Rs3 rice scheme or where the money will come from. Many such populist schemes announced by parties prior to the polls have remained on paper after they came to power.