lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Apr 06, 2019 02:54 IST

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said no burden would be put on the middle class to finance the Nyunatam Aay Yojana (Nyay), an anti-poverty scheme that the party has proposed in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections.

Gandhi was interacting with around 7,000 students from various colleges at Laxmi Lawns, Magarpatta city. Stating that he did not like to make sweeping statements, Gandhi said, there won’t be any hike in income tax for implementing the Nyay scheme.

“The manifesto has been prepared after consultations with all stakeholders. The middle class will not be taxed and income tax will not be increased to implement the Nyay scheme where ~72,000 will be deposited in bank accounts of poor people every year if the party is voted to power,” said Gandhi.

He said the money will come from those who have “looted” India with “blessings” from the BJP government, and mentioned diamond businessman Nirav Modi who has been accused of fraud. The Congress Party has promised to roll out the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) scheme, under which Rs 72,000 will be deposited in bank accounts of the poor families annually, a move party has termed “game changer”.

The Congress has claimed that the scheme will benefit around 25 crore people. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) however has criticised the scheme and sought to know from the Congress how it plans to fund the programme. According to estimates, Nyay is estimated to cost Rs 3.26 lakh crore to the national exchequer. Malishka Medonsa popularly known as R J Malishka and famous Marathi actor Subhodh Bhave anchored Gandhi’s interaction with Rahul.

Gandhi said that his scheme was a result of several rounds of consultations with various experts before putting it into the manifesto. “The scheme is foolproof and will be executed without bringing any burden on the middle class,” he said.

When asked about the retirement age for politicians, the Congress president said it should be 60 years. In a free-wheeling interaction, Gandhi said he does not have answers of all the questions. “I want you to make me feel uncomfortable so that I go back and revisit the question and start looking for answers,” he said. The Congress president said once party comes to power, it plans to replace Niti Ayog with the Planning Commission, an esrtwhile agency, which the Modi government converted into Niti Ayog.

To another question about women’s participation in politics, Gandhi said the Congress was committed to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and state assemblies to substantially increase their representation in the state and central legislatures.

Students chants Modi-Modi, Rahul says he doesn’t mind it

While answering a question, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that although Prime Minister Narendra Modi hates him, he has love for him. To this reply, students started shouting ‘Modi-Modi’ to which Gandhi said “I don’t mind it”. Many students appreciated Rahul’s response and applauded him.

The Congress president appealed to students to raise questions. “Students should ask questions to teachers, and politicians. I have dared to come among you and face questions. There are chances that some questions will make me awkward but I need to face them, otherwise there will be no progress. If students won’t ask questions to teachers, teachers won’t upgrade their knowledge. But in India we are not asking questions. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn’t like it and does not face questions, said Rahul.