Inheritance Tax: Modi tightens Sam Pitroda knot on Congress

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Modi hits out at Congress over inheritance tax

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, April 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday fired fresh barbs at the Congress, alleging that the Opposition party is eyeing the wealth and properties of the people. The Congress disassociated with remarks made by the US-based Sam Pitroda.

“Zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi,” Modi said at an election rally, while referring to Pitroda’s remarks about the prevalent inheritance tax in the US. The prime minister alleged that the Congress could be eyeing the ancestral properties of the people also.

“Sam Pitroda is advisor of the Congress. He is the advisor of the Shehzada,” said Modi. The prime minister is known to refer former Congress president Rahul Gandhi as ‘Shehzada’.

Modi said that Pitroda was an advisor of “father of the Shehzada also”. “He is now advising that there should be inheritance tax,” added Modi.

The prime minister coined a new attack line on the Congress. He associated the Congress with “zindagi ke sath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi”. This is loosely translated to mean that the Congress-led government will tax in life and after life also.

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The prime minister had previously accused the Congress of conspiring to even “snatch the mangalsutra of the women and distribute them among the women”. Modi has been targeting the Congress for the party’s promise to hold census in the country.

Pitroda has been associated with the Congress. He recently unveiled a book. He has also been an ideologue of the Congress.

But the Congress asserted that Pitroda’s remarks on the prevalent tax on inheritance are his personal views. “Sam Pitroda has made certain remarks about the inheritance tax. They are his personal views. The Congress has nothing to do with his remarks and views on the matter,” said Jairam Ramesh, the chairman of the communication department of the Congress.

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The Congress MP, Shashi Tharoor, also reacted on the BJP attack on the party over the remarks of Pitroda. “Sam Pitroda has spoken in his personal capacity. We stand by with the manifesto of the Congress, which has been approved by the working committee of the party,” Tharoor told reporters.

The Congress was on defensive amid sharpening of attacks by the BJP over the remarks by Pitroda. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a meeting in the national capital, also spoke of the party’s intent to “take a small part from the 22 people who got ₹16 lakh crore and redistribute them among the 90 per cent population”.