india

Updated: Jan 31, 2019 17:46 IST

Days after Congress president Rahul Gandhi promised minimum income to the poor in order to “eradicate poverty and hunger” if voted to power, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit out at the opposition leader picking up quotes of two former prime ministers from the Congress party – Indira Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao.

The BJP drew a parallel between the call given by Indira Gandhi in 1971 Lok Sabha polls and the one by Rahul Gandhi, her grandson, for the 2019 parliamentary elections – ‘Garibi Hatao’ (eradicate poverty). The BJP tagged a short video clip featuring Rao suggesting that “he just has to listen to his own party’s former Prime Minister.”

“PM P V Narasimha Rao: “What you promise for the future, is strengthened by what you have done in the past. If you have done nothing in the past and promised everything in the future, your credibility suffers,” before adding, “Indira Gandhi in 1971: Garibi Hatao…Rahul Gandhi in 2019: Garibi Hatao,” reads the BJP’s post on Twitter.

The BJP’s dig at Rahul Gandhi apparently came as a reaction to the Congress president’s promise first at a public rally in Chhattisgarh and then in a post on Twitter, where he said if the party is voted to power in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the new government would bring law to ensure minimum income guarantee to the poor.

On January 28, Rahul Gandhi had tweeted, “We cannot build a new India while millions of our brothers and sisters suffer the scourge of poverty. If voted to power in 2019, the Congress is committed to a Minimum Income Guarantee for every poor person, to help eradicate poverty and hunger. This is our vision and our promise.”

The Congress president reiterated while addressing the youth wing of the party in New Delhi on Wednesday that if voted to power, the new government to assure minimum income to the poor that will be directly transferred to their bank accounts.

The BJP criticised Rahul Gandhi with senior party leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad calling it “like hundreds of Congress announcements which are not meant to be implemented.”

The idea of minimum income guarantee scheme was mooted by former chief economic adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian two years ago in the economic survey report. The proposal had called for replacing the existing subsidies with a similar income guarantee scheme.