Inheritance Tax: Rahul pokes Robin Hood stick into BJP belly
Image credit X @RahulGandhi
Economic model takes centre stage in electioneering for Lok Sabha elections
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, April 25: A man in his early sixties, in quick steps, climbed to the higher side of the branch of a tree in a community park. Sighting his friend, he jumped to the ground and offered quick unasked for advice – dispose off your properties.
“The Congress is now eying properties you made for your son,” he said in an assured voice. He further advised his friend who had not uttered a word yet that ways be found to protect properties.
The power of communication may rival the strength of raging fire which burns down everything that comes in its reach. A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave centre stage to Sam Pitroda’s economic wisdom, the people on the ground appears eating out of the hands of the BJP’s communication machineries.
The Congress abandoned Pitroda after Modi announced that the Congress, if elected to power, will “not just take away the mangalsutras and give away to Muslims but even the properties may not be safe”. The Congress has said that Pitroda has spoken in personal capacity.
Also read: Inheritance Tax: Modi tightens Sam Pitroda knot on Congress
But former Congress president Rahul Gandhi spoke at a social justice meeting in the national capital yesterday. He gave a fresh air to Pitroda’s prescription for redistribution of wealth in the country.
“Twenty-two people in the country were given a total of ₹16 lakh by the Narendra Modi government. We will just take away a portion of that amount and share with the 90 per cent of the population,” said Gandhi.
The Congress communication department chief, Jairam Ramesh, posted a video, arguing that the party manifesto doesn’t mention inheritance tax or anything of that sort. Later in the evening, Ramesh dug out a video of Jayant Sinha, former BJP MP, who in November 2014, had also made a case for redistribution of wealth by borrowing the US model to impose 50-55 per cent inheritance tax.
Also read: PM Modi has panicked: Rahul Gandhi
Swinging from denial to debate, the Congress kept the supply of oxygen to the raging fire on inheritance tax leaping further. Economy rarely has occupied the centre stage during electioneering.
Senior economy journalist, M. K. Venu, in a thread posts, on X, said: “…the single event which transferred big wealth from working class to the rich was Covid. It caused a K shaped growth. (The) RBI data says loans against gold rose 60% between sept 2020 & 2021.”
Venu faulted the Modi government for ineffectual stimulus packages. “… the NDA govt’s stimulus did not put money directly in the hands of the people. Instead, it gave large credit concessions to bigger businesses which made impressive profits in subsequent years,” opined Venu.
Also read: Stock market laps chip makers as scrips go soaring
In 2018, Arun Jaitely, Finance Minister in the first term of the Modi government, had explained the economic wisdom of the Centre. He essentially had argued that the government needed to be both pro-poor and pro-rich.
“We need to get deep pockets to serve the poor,” said Jaitely. The deep pockets were thickened by high fuel prices, which essentially hit the middle class. The Nifty-50 firms reported bloating profits, as analysts argued that the companies conveniently didn’t pass the benefits of the lower corporate tax to the employees and the customers.
About The Author
