"The Congress has decided to take a historic decision... The Congress-led government is going to give minimum income guarantee. This means, each poor person in India will have minimum income. This means there will be no hungry, poor people in India," Mr Gandhi said at the farmers' rally in Chhattisgarh.

"Our government will do this in Chhattisgarh, in Madhya Pradesh, in Rajasthan, and in every state. We don't want two Indias, we want only one India," Rahul Gandhi added.

Explaining Mr Gandhi's announcement, former finance minister P Chidambaram said the principle of Universal Basic Income was being discussed for the last two years.

P Chidambaram said that the Congress will explain the scheme in the party manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections.

"The time has come to adapt the principle to our situation and our needs and implement the same for the poor. We will explain our plan in the Congress Manifesto," Mr Chidambaram tweeted.

The idea takes forward the UPA government's MNREGA, the rural employment guarantee scheme that ensured 100 days' job to every person.

The Congress chief had ended the last week on a high, announcing the entry of his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into active politics from eastern Uttar Pradesh, which would pitch her against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his constituency Varanasi, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from his home turf Gorakhpur.

Rahul Gandhi called the scheme his party's vision. "We cannot build a new India while millions of our brothers & 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 & hunger. This is our vision & our promise," he tweeted.

The Congress had posted a massive victory in the assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, winning 68 of the total 90 seats.