Pitroda remarks as ammo, PM Modi’s new line of attack: ‘Congress ki loot — zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi’

The comments came shortly after an interview came to light of Pitroda, chairman of Indian Overseas Congress, wherein he said that the inheritance tax in America was an interesting law and could be issues that people could debate and discuss.

PM Modi Chhattisgarh Lok Sabha Polls 2024

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting in Surguja district, Chhattisgarh, on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI)

Comments by Congress leader Sam Pitroda gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi fresh ammunition, as he tore into the party at a rally in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja on Wednesday.

“The royal family prince’s advisor, and the royal family prince’s father’s advisor, had said that more taxes should be imposed on the middle class. Now these people have gone a step further. The Congress now says that it will impose an ‘Inheritance Tax’. That it will impose tax on the inheritance received from parents. The property you have accumulated through your hard work will not be given to your children. The claws of Congress will snatch that too from you. The Congress mantra is: Congress ki loot, zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi. As long as you are alive, Congress will impose higher taxes, and when you are no longer alive, it will burden you with inheritance tax. Those who considered the entire Congress party as their ancestral property and handed it over to their children don’t want Indians to pass on their property to their children.”

The comments came shortly after an interview came to light of Pitroda, chairman of Indian Overseas Congress, wherein he said that the inheritance tax in America was an interesting law and could be issues that people could debate and discuss.

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“In America, there is an inheritance tax. If one has $100 million worth of wealth and when he dies, he can only transfer probably 45% to his children and 55% goes to the government. That’s an interesting law. It says you in your generation, made wealth and you are leaving now, you must leave your wealth for the public, not all of it, half of it, which to me sounds fair. In India, you don’t have that. If somebody is worth 10 billion and he dies, his children get 10 billion and people get nothing… So, these are the kind of issues people will have to debate and discuss,” he said.

As his comments came under fire from BJP leaders, he was quick to clarify: “Who said 55% will be taken away? Who said something like this should be done in India? Why is BJP and media in panic? It is unfortunate that what I said as an individual on inheritance tax in the US is twisted by Godi media to divert attention from what lies PM is spreading about Congress manifesto. PM’s comments on mangalsutra and gold snatching is simply unreal. 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 kind of issues people will have to discuss and debate. This has nothing to do with the policy of any party, including Congress.”

Other Congress leaders, from Pawan Khera to Jairam Ramesh, also attempted to explain Pitroda’s comments.

Modi’s fresh line of attack against the Congress comes against the backdrop of his repeated assertions in recent rallies that the party is planning “wealth redistribution”.

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Speaking in Rajasthan yesterday, he had said, “You would know that they (Congress) have written in the manifesto that they will survey your property, survey the streedhan, the mangalsutra held by our mothers and sisters. One of their leaders said in a speech that an X-ray will be conducted. Meaning, if there is anything kept in a bajra box inside your house, then that too will be discovered through an X-ray…”