Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will on January 19 address a women's convention of the party's Karnataka unit, to be organised as part of efforts to galvanise its ranks ahead of the Assembly polls. A manifesto for women's welfare will be released at the event. The convention at Bengaluru's Palace Grounds will be attended by women who contested elections to various panchayats and cooperative societies, state Congress president D K Shivakumar told reporters Monday. "We have called on 3-10 women from each booth or panchayat to attend the convention," he said. The Congress has decided to bring out a separate manifesto for women for the upcoming elections. All women and leaders can submit their suggestions for the manifesto by January 15, he said. The women's convention will be attended by the party's national leaders. At the public meeting, Shivakumar said, Priyanka will announce the party's assurances for the uplift of women. Responding to media queries on whether the Congress would announce freebies for women along the lines of those given by Delhi's AAP government, he said that Karnataka was a model for the entire nation. "One cannot compare Karnataka's financial power and policies with Delhi's. We have several good schemes for women." Shivakumar was speaking after inducting JD(S) leaders from Ramanagar and Mandya districts along with their supporters into the Congress. Among those who joined the party was Vishwanath, who contested the 2018 Assembly polls against Shivakumar from Kanakapura.
