Solapur: Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the top 25 people in the country hold the same wealth as 70 crore Indians.
Drawing a comparison, the Congress MP said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) paid by a common man and industrialist Gautam Adani is the same.
Rahul Gandhi will be seeking his second term from the Wayanad constituency in Kerala, which goes to polling in the second phase of elections on April 26.
Addressing the public meeting in Maharashtra’s Solapur, Rahul Gandhi said, “1 per cent of people in India have 40 per cent of the nation’s wealth and that’s why the unemployment is rising. They (Centre) did demonetisation saying that they would eliminate the ‘black money’, but it ended up benefitting only those 22-25 people. They implemented the ‘wrong’ GST, five different taxes, they put a tax on farmers…whether you (people) know this or not but the GST that you pay, Adani pays the same.”
He further alleged that 25 rich people in the country have been given benefits of Rs 16 lakh crore with loan waivers.
“Narendra Modi has given Rs 16 lakhs crores to 25 rich people in the country by waiving off their loans. Rs 16 lakh crore is equal to the MNREGA allocation of 24 years…the situation has reached an extent that on one hand are PM Modi’s 25 rich people and on the other hand there are 70 crore Indians with the same wealth”.
The former Congress President further asserted that this is not an ‘ordinary’ election, alleging that the BJP wants to “destroy” the Constitution after returning to power.
“This is not an ordinary election. First time after independence, there is a party that wants to destroy the Constitution. Their target is not to win the election but to destroy the Constitution. And our target, Congress party’s and INDIA bloc’s target is to save the Constitution and the democracy in the country,” he said.
Stating that all the benefits to the poor are ensured by the Constitution, he further vowed that “no power in the world” can change the Constitution.
“Whatever progress has happened in the country, whatever the poor, backwards have received, it is because of the Constitution. If they (BJP) destroy the Constitution nothing will be left for the poor, farmers, labourers,” the Congress leader said.
“This is the first election where the BJP and its leaders have openly said that after winning the elections, they will change the Constitution. But, I want to assure everyone, that there exists no power in the world that can change the Constitution of India,” he added.
Taking to social media platform X, about his public meeting, Rahul Gandhi said that PM Modi is “trembling” out of fear and he knows that the elections have slipped out of his hands.
“Narendra Modi is trembling in fear of defeat! That’s why he is continuously saying one lie after the other. He knows that the people of India have understood that Narendra Modi is the leader of the billionaires, not of the poor. He knows that the people of India have stood up to protect the Constitution. He knows that the election has slipped out of his hands,” he posted.
https://x.com/RahulGandhi/status/1783122672626417685
The polls for the five parliamentary seats in Maharashtra were held in the first phase of polling on April 19.
The state, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats. The undivided NCP, part of the opposition alliance, contested 19 seats and won four.
Following the split in the Shiva Sena 2022, the Eknath Shinde faction aligned with the BJP. The NCP also split with Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar joining the BJP-led NDA.
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “panicked” after seeing the Congress’ “revolutionary” manifesto.
“So did you like the Congress manifesto? You must have seen that the Prime Minister has panicked. It is a revolutionary manifesto,” Rahul Gandhi said while speaking at Social Justice conclave organised by the Congress in Delhi.
Rahul alleged that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre transferred crores of rupees to a few billionaires and said that the Congress manifesto talks about returning a small amount of that money to the people who are at the bottom pyramid of income and wealth distribution.
“There is mention of x-ray (caste census) and income inequality created by Modi ji. The Congress will return a small amount of money to 90% of the people of the country from the Rs 16 lakh crore given to the 22 people by Narendra Modi,” he said
His comment was in the backdrop of Prime Minister Modi’s criticism that the Congress manifesto smacks of appeasement and that if it came to power, it would redistribute people’s wealth and also give reservations to Muslims from the quota for SC, ST, and OCB communities.
Also read: Backward classes panel flags Karnataka’s Muslim OBC quota. ‘Rights of actual OBCs being taken away’