New Delhi: With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the Congress is trying desperately to score some brownie points even if it meaning promising some attainable stuff.

One such promise is the proposed minimum basic income scheme NYAY, which, Congress’s advisor and economist Abhijit Banerjee said, will be funded by rising inflation and new taxes.

Now, Sam Pitroda, veteran Congress leader and Rahul Gandhi’s advisor in an interview with India Ahead News said that the middle class will have to bear the cost of the NYAY scheme.

Also read: ‘Did we really attack and kill 300 people?’ Rahul Gandhi’s adviser Sam Pitroda questions Balakot air strike

In the video, the Congress leader is seen saying that under the new government (Congress’s govt), the middle class will have more opportunities and more jobs and the taxes will go up a little bit.

Terming it as “not a major issue”, the Indian Overseas Congress chief said that the middle class should not be selfish and rather have a ‘big heart’.

“How can you see poor people around you and worry that somebody might take a 10 paisa from you. That is not India,” he added.

Pitroda also gave out a message for the middle class. He said, “Yes, if you and I have to tighten our belt a little, there is nothing wrong with it. They are our cousins, they are our brothers, sisters, and nephews.”

Earlier Pitroda made headlines when he questioned the Balakot air strike conducted the Indian Air Force on February 26 following the Pulwama massacre.

“I would like to know a little more because I read reports in the New York Times and other newspaper. Did we really attack? We really killed 300 people? I don’t know that. As a citizen, I am entitled to know and if in ask that doesn’t mean I am not a nationalist. We need to know the facts. When global media comes and says that nobody was killed, I look bad as an Indian citizen,” he said.