The Congress has been sharpening its freebies strategy for quite some time and in the Karnataka election the party used it as a major weapon. It gave five major guarantees of Rs 2,000 per month to every woman head of a family; free bus passes for all women; Rs 3,000 for graduates and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders as unemployment monthly payment; 10 kilos of rice; and 200 units of free power to households.