Goal Rahul Gandhi: Why the BJP Is Pursuing the ‘Yuvraaj’ Call for Wealth Re-Distribution Under PM Modi’s Leadership

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to challenge Rahul Gandhi’s April 6 remark in Hyderabad, when he called for a “financial and institutional survey” to re-distribute the nation’s wealth and employment, intensified the Lok Sabha election campaign on Sunday.

The redistribution was stated by Rahul Gandhi as a follow-up to the caste census, which was previously promised. “We will conduct a caste census to determine the number of backward people, SCs, STs, impoverished people from other castes, and minorities in the nation. Subsequently, an institutional and financial census will be conducted to determine the ownership and distribution of the nation’s wealth, after which we will start our revolutionary task. We shall endeavor to accord you the same rights, wherever they may be. Gandhi had said, according to his address posted on the Congress party website, “We will create space for you there and give you your right, be it media, bureaucracy, or all institutions.”

MODI LINKS THE 2006 STATEMENT OF MANMOHAN
Referencing it to a 2006 comment made by previous prime minister Manmohan Singh over who should have priority access to the nation’s resources, the prime minister has challenged this specific statement, raising concerns about whether the Congress will redistribute wealth among the Muslim minority. Subsequently, the PMO emphasized that Singh intended for women, children, OBCs, SCs, STs, and minorities to make the “first claim on resources.”

To be explicit, Singh said that “We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development.” However, the BJP released excerpts of Singh’s 2006 address. They have to be the first in line for resources.

“I believe our collective priorities are clear: agriculture, irrigation and water resources, health, education, critical investment in rural infrastructure, and the essential public investment needs of general infrastructure, along with programs for the upliftment of SC/STs, other backward classes, minorities, women and children,” the Congress retorted, accusing the BJP of ignoring the earlier portion of the same statement.

BJP MAKES HISTORY
However, the BJP provided additional instances of Singh’s statements to support its claim that the Congress has always supported the interests of Muslims. The party referenced a statement given by Singh in 2006 in which he said that it is “incumbent upon any democratically elected government to redress such imbalances and eradicate such inequities” since the Muslim minority in certain places of India has not received an equitable share of the advantages of growth. Our government is dedicated to completing this, I can tell you of that.

The Sachar Committee was also established by the Manmohan Singh administration to evaluate the state of India’s minorities, particularly Muslims. According to statistics presented in the Sachar Committee report, Singh (2014) said that the Muslim population in certain regions of the nation has not equally benefited from progress.

Furthermore, the BJP is interpreting clues in the Congress platform to assume that Rahul Gandhi’s position would be adopted by the party. “We will ensure that the minorities receive their fair share of opportunities in education, healthcare, public employment, public works contracts, skill development, sports, and cultural activities without discrimination,” reads one of the Congress manifesto’s points. With such assurances, the BJP is doubting if the Congress is considering a Muslim reservation.

However, the Congress referred to the PM’s Sunday remarks as “communal” and requested that the Election Commission take appropriate action. In a rally in Rajasthan, the PM had inquired as to whether the Congress intended to redistribute money to those “who have many children” or those who are “infiltrators,” warning that not even the “mangalsutra” of women would be exempt from the party’s wrath.

RAHUL IS TARGET
As seen by the Prime Minister’s speech on Sunday, the assaults on Gandhi’s hesitation to run from Amethi by Modi and Amit Shah, and the remarks made by BJP President JP Nadda, the party’s high brass has resolved to take a tough stance against Rahul Gandhi during the campaign. After the Wayanad polls conclude on April 26, the PM has said that the Congress would proclaim Gandhi to have a third “safe seat” and that Gandhi will abandon Wayanad, just as he has done with Amethi.

Gandhi claimed in a post on X that PM Modi is lying to the people in order to distract them from important concerns and that he is doing this out of fear of losing elections. “Information has begun to flow regarding the tremendous backing the Congress’s ‘Revolutionary Manifesto’ is garnering,” Gandhi wrote on X. PM Modi had already said that the Congress Manifesto was similar to the “Muslim League” manifesto.