India, Jan. 7 -- The Congress and its allies have announced a long list of populist promises in their manifesto for the upcoming BMC elections, second only to the Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS alliance, which made a similar pitch a few days ago.

The Congress on Tuesday promised a universal free health card, two new multi-speciality public hospitals, scrapping the annual hike in water bills, reopening of closed municipal schools, free bus rides for students, making Mumbai pothole-free, large-scale parking facilities, real-time air quality monitoring, a special development policy for gaothans and koliwadas, among other things.

Its ten-page manifesto sets out to address just about every challenge Mumbai faces, apart from appealing to all major commu...