2024 Lok Sabha election: Was Rahul Gandhi’s stance on the “X-ray/wealth survey” a deliberate blunder?

In the midst of the 2018 Lok Sabha elections, the governing BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are attacking their primary rival, the Congress, on the grounds that they have committed a “major political blunder.”

Prime Minister Modi today criticized the Congress and TMC for propagating “canards about CAA” and said that these two parties were engaged in an appeasement contest. The TMC is not saying anything at all to stop the Congress from seizing your property.

He said during a gathering in Malda, West Bengal, “The Congress is talking about distributing your wealth among those, and the state government is working to settle Bangladeshi infiltrators in Bengal.”

wealth evaluation

Addressing “growing inequality of wealth and income through suitable changes in policies” was included in the Congress platform. In contrast, senior party leader Rahul Gandhi advanced the concept in his election speeches, advocating for institutional and economic surveys in addition to the caste census.

Gandhi said that the Congress will carry out an institutional and financial study to determine the country’s wealth distribution if elected to power. Despite some stories implying a “U-turn” on his “wealth survey” comment, Gandhi was also reported as stating that his goal was to ascertain the extent of injustice that the nation was experiencing.

“I haven’t yet said that we would act. Gandhi remarked at the party’s “Social Justice Conference” on Wednesday, “I am just saying let us find out how much injustice has been done.”

“Observe Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response when I suggested we measure the extent of injustice.” They claim that this is an effort to divide the nation. “The wealth survey, or X-ray, will help us identify the issue,” he said.

Ninety percent of Indians are the victims of injustice. Gandhi said, “The Prime Minister and the BJP started attacking me the moment I called for checking this injustice,” and that “the first thing that would be done is caste census” as soon as his party’s administration is established.

“Appeasement politics,” according to the BJP, and much more

The BJP said that the burgeoning middle class was in danger because their money would be “grabbed” if the Congress became the next government. The BJP has been characterizing all of this as part of the Congress’s “appeasement politics and economics.”

Sam Pitroda, the head of the Indian Overseas Congress, fueled the flames with remarks about inheritance tax. Even when the Congress seemed to back down, Pitroda’s comments set off yet another fierce political exchange in which Prime Minister Modi accused the Congress of trying to raise taxes and of not wanting people to give their hard-earned money to their offspring.

Pitroda was reported as supporting the concept of an inheritance tax and using the US as an example. Pitroda also said that there was “nothing wrong in accumulating wealth but to what point?”

Let me tell you, there is an inheritance tax in the United States. Thus, if someone were to inherit $100 million, of which he might likely leave 45% to his offspring upon his death, the remaining 55% would be appropriated by the state.

That legislation is intriguing, right now. It states that since you are departing now and your generation has produced riches, you must give half of your money—not all of it, but some—to the public. This seems fair to me. You don’t have that in India. A person with $10 billion will leave $10 billion to his children upon his death. The general public receives nothing. Thus, these are the types of topics that will need discussion and debate,” he was cited in reports.

Will Congress gain or suffer from this?

The crucial issue at hand is whether Pitroda’s most recent “gaffe,” as some pundits have dubbed it, would harm Congress’ chances of winning reelection. By making it a scandal, the BJP may have pulled off another “masterstroke” in their eyes. They claim that “the BJP, and PM Modi in particular, are masters in this art; they know where and how to strike the chord.”

There is, however, a another viewpoint that claims that Gandhi’s first remarks on “jitni abadi, utna haq” during the Karnataka Assembly elections produced “good dividends.”

The CWC recently passed a resolution stating that a “nationwide caste census will reveal an accurate picture of the socio-economic position of communities across the country and provide a sound, data-driven basis for policies to strengthen the foundations of social justice and ensure inclusive development,” they point out, even after they had won there.

Gandhi seems to be addressing concerns related to caste and income inequality when he talks about the wealth census. “X-ray” will show who earns what and who owns what, he claims. It is a reality that the impoverished and marginalized people seemed to support the notion of demonetisation despite its difficulties, seeing it to be a leveling tool. The impoverished were encouraged by the notion that demonetisation was severely hurting the wealthy and were confident that the policy will eventually improve their lot in life or at the very least harm those with large sums of money, they said.