Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that grave injustice was done to India’s poor for the last five years, but his party’s government would do “Nyay” (justice), referring to the party’s minimum income scheme promise.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had in the last five years done a lot of injustice with the poor, tribals and Dalits but the Congress has prepared a programme of justice for them. The Modi government opened bank accounts for people, but the Congress will deposit cash in them,” Gandhi said at rallies in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol and Jabalpur Lok Sabha constituencies.
Taking a dig at Modi’s 2014 poll promise that Rs15 lakh would be deposited in every Indian’s bank accounts, Gandhi said that nobody had seen any of this money. “But when the Congress comes to power, 25 crore people of the country will benefit. Five crore families will have Rs72,000 deposited in their accounts every year,” he said.
“Congress has promised every poor family will get Rs6,000 in their bank account every month, amounting to Rs72,000 per year. These accounts will be in the names of the families’ women members since they know the importance of money. In this way, each family will get Rs360,000 in five years.”
On the apprehensions aired by various other parties to the Congress’ proposed scheme, Gandhi said: “In the recent assembly elections to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the Congress had promised to waive off farmers’ loans. As soon as the Congress governments took over, the loans were waived.
“In the same way, the amount of Rs6,000 will be credited into the accounts of the poor,” he said.
“The BJP and Prime Minister Modi have asked where the money for this scheme will come from, but we want to say that there is actually no shortage of money in the country. The present government has waived off Rs550,000 crore loans of top businessmen. The Congress will not follow suit but it will give the due amount to the poor,” the Congress chief added.
Meanwhile, Gandhi sparked a political controversy by referring to his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah as a “murder accused” at an election rally in Jabalpur.
The Congress president also took a dig at Shah’s son Jay Shah by calling him a “magician.”