BENGALURU : Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) supremo HD Deve Gowda has criticised the Congress party’s manifesto over claims that the party wants to carry out wealth redistribution in the country.
Slamming the Congress party, Deve Gowda said that the party has ‘insulted’ two of its own Prime Ministers—Manmohan Singh and Narsimha Rao— who had brought market reforms to the country.
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He said that the party has promised so many things that “only a party that is very sure of never coming to power” will promise. He added that Congress wants to turn the country “upside down” and wants “power at any cost.”
“Rahul Gandhi wants to do a wealth survey and redistribute wealth. Does he think he is a Maoist leader? Is he dreaming of a revolution?” Deve Gowda said.
Attacking Rahul Gandhi further, he said that the Wayanad MP has “torn up” his party’s earlier economic reforms like he had torn up an ordinance by the Manmohan Singh government.
“By speaking of wealth redistribution Rahul Gandhi has insulted and humiliated two Congress Prime Ministers who brought market reforms and increased the wealth of this nation. He is indirectly trying to say that all that the two Congress prime ministers did was wrong. He has torn up their economic reforms like he had torn up an ordinance issued by the Manmohan Singh government,” he stated.
This was a reference to the 2013 incident, where Rahul Gandhi tore the ordinance that sought to overturn the Supreme Court ruling that disqualifies all MPs and MLAs convicted with a minimum two-year sentence.
Criticising the Congress party’s promise of giving 30 lakh jobs, the JD(S) supremo asked from where these many jobs be added and how they be paid.
“Rahul Gandhi wants to give 30 lakh new central government jobs. I have run this country. There are only 40 lakh sanctioned jobs. How can he overnight add 30 lakh more jobs? How much will he pay these people? Where will he employ them? Will he make them lift operators in government offices in four shifts? Only someone with no practical knowledge can speak like this,” Deve Gowda further stated.
He also questioned whether former Home Minister P Chidambaram, who was the chairman of the manifesto committee, agrees with Rahul Gandhi’s “immature” economic ideas.
Congress has made a slew of promises in its manifesto including a legal guarantee for MSP, Rs 1 lakh to women annually, apprenticeship program for youth, 50 per cent reservation for women in government jobs, removing 50 per cent reservation cap, repealing Agnipath scheme, doubling GDP in next ten years, strengthening anti-defection law, restoring status quo ante with China, mobile phones for students from class IX to XII and amending the GST regime.
Meanwhile, a controversy erupted after the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, Sam Pitroda while emphasising the need for policy toward wealth redistribution spoke about the concept of inheritance tax prevailing in America and said that these are issues that will need to be discussed.
Although the Congress party has distanced itself from the remarks and said that inheritance tax laws do not reflect the stand of the party, the BJP came guns blazing at the Congress party. (ANI)