NEW DELHI : Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said that remarks made by Sam Pitroda, Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, on the inheritance tax law do not reflect the stand of the party adding that Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to divert the attention of the public from the real issues due to its “poor performance” in phase 1 of Lok Sabha elections.
A controversy erupted after 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.
Distancing from the remarks made by Sam Pitroda, Jairam Ramesh while speaking to ANI said, “This is a desperate and deliberate attempt to divert attention from the real issues. The BJP has performed very poorly in Phase 1. It is not going to do very well in phase 2. The BJP is not going to get the majority. INDIA alliance is going to get a clear and convincing majority. The PM’s campaign is now ridden with poison. The language that he is using shows that he is rattled. What Mr Pitroda says are Mr Pitroda’s views, they are not the views of the Indian National Congress.”
Jairam Ramesh who is also the Congress General Secretary (Communications) further stated that Pitroda is free to express his views and the topic does not need to be sensationalized.
“Sam Pitroda expresses his views on issues that he considers important, very freely. On this particular issue also he is not reflecting the official position of the Congress. But I think what is happening is, that his comments are torn out of context and they are being sensationalised in order to divert attention from the PM’s deliberate, mischievous and malicious, poison-ridden campaign,” he said.
Speaking on the matter, Tamil Nadu BJP Chief K Annamalai claimed that the INDIA bloc will take away the inheritance of the people as per their idea of redistribution policy.
“What our Hon PM Thiru Narendra Modi did? Abrogated Article 370, removed ifs and buts and gave women in Kashmir the right over inheritance. What I.N.D.I. Alliance is planning to do? Charge 50 per cent of the value of inheritance as inheritance tax. Whatever is left will be assessed and taken away by force as per redistribution policy,” Annamalai posted on X.
Taking a jibe at the Congress, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that after the comments of the Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress Sam Pitroda advocating an inheritance tax-like law, the party has been completely exposed.
Speaking to ANI, Amit Shah said “After Sam Pitroda’s remark, the Congress party is completely exposed. First of all, mention of ‘survey’ in their manifesto, Manmohan Singh’s old statement which is Congress’ legacy – that minorities have the first right over resources of the country, and now Sam Pitroda’s remark citing the United States that there should be deliberations on the distribution of wealth… 55 per cent of wealth goes to the government’s property.”
The Home Minister also demanded that the Congress should either withdraw or accept that distributing wealth is their intention.
After the comments snowballed into a controversy Pitroda sought to downplay the issue saying he had only cited inheritance tax in the US as an example.
“Who said 55 per cent will be taken away? Who said something like this should be done in India? Why are BJP and the media in panic? 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,” Pitroda said in his post on X. (ANI)