Yet another ‘foul’ play by a Congress leader gave an opportunity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP to mount attack on the grand old party over the ongoing controversial remarks related to wealth and tax. This time its Sam Pitroda and the BJP-led by PM seized on his remarks on inheritance tax saying “zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi” as the Opposition party’s mantra to “loot” people.
As Pitroda’s comments provided fresh fodder to the BJP, its leaders latched onto them to target the Congress ahead of the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday. Congress also marshalled a counter-offensive as its functionaries shared past comments of BJP leaders, including former Union Minister and MP in the outgoing Lok Sabha Jayant Sinha, in “favour” of such an tax.
In his poll rallies, Modi framed Pitroda’s comments in his wider onslaught against the Congress, asserting that they have exposed its hidden agenda and that the party has become so removed from the country’s social and family values that it wants to legally rob people of their assets and lifelong savings they want to bequeath to their children.
Pitroda had spoken about inheritance tax in the US while delving into the issue of redistribution of wealth. Pitroda, himself, sought to clear the air saying it is unfortunate that what he said as an individual on inheritance tax in the US is twisted by “godi media” to divert attention from the “lies” Modi is spreading about the Congress manifesto. Modi’s comments on Mangal Sutra and gold snatching are simply unreal, he added.
Congress however swung into damage control, distancing itself from the comments of the US-based president of party’s overseas wing and asserting that it has no plan to introduce such a tax. “Sensationalising his comments now and tearing them out of context are deliberate and desperate attempts at diverting attention away from Narendra Modi’s malicious and mischievous election campaign; that is anchored only in lies and more lies,” Congress chief spokesman Jairam Ramesh said on a statement.
At an election rally in Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur, Modi said the dangerous intentions of the Congress are coming to the fore one by one and now “it says it will impose inheritance tax”. “The advisor of ‘shehzada’ of the ‘shahi parivar’, who was also the advisor to the shehzada’s father, said that more tax should be imposed on the middle class and those who earn by toiling hard,” Modi said, apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi and Pitroda.
“Congress will impose a tax on the assets inherited by people from their parents and the “panja” (Congress’ poll symbol) will snatch the assets from their children. Congress ka mantra hei Congress ki loot ‘zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi’ (Congress’ mantra is looting people when they are alive and afterwards too),” Modi said taking a cue from LIC tagline. “Till you are alive, the Congress will impose more tax and after your life ends, it will impose the burden of inheritance tax on you. They (Congress) want to snatch your assets and rights of your children,” the prime minister alleged. He spoke on similar lines in his rallies in Madhya Pradesh.
Amid the fierce attack from the BJP, the Congress has been insisting that its manifesto does not talk about “redistribution” and that it favours a “comprehensive socio-economic caste census”.
“I mentioned US inheritance tax in the US only as an example in my normal conversation on TV. Can I not mention facts? I said these are the kinds of issues people will have to discuss and debate. This has nothing to do with the policy of any party including Congress,” Pitroda said on social media.
Sinha, then a junior finance minister, had publicly said in 2014 that he wanted to introduce inheritance tax while the then finance minister Arun Jaitley had praised the concept in 2018, saying it is a source of big endowment to hospitals and educational institutions in the western countries, Ramesh claimed, sharing screenshots of related reports.
Home Minister Amit Shah also flayed Pitroda’s remarks, saying “The appeasement politics of the Congress stands exposed today with Sam Pitroda’s statement on wealth redistribution. He reaffirmed the party’s intention to seize the property of the majority and distribute it among the minority. It yet again brings to the fore that the empowerment of India’s poor, Dalits, youth, tribes, and backward classes was never on Congress’s agenda,” he said on social media.
