Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday seized on the comments of “royal family adviser” Sam Pitroda and accused the Congress of planning to impose an “inheritance tax”, raising the slogan “Congress ki loot, zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi”.

Pitroda, chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, said in an interview with ANI that the inheritance tax in America was an “interesting law” and could be an issue that people could debate and discuss.

Modi, who has already pushed the “Viksit Bharat” campaign to the back seat after the first round of voting and latched onto the Hindu-Muslim polarisation card, got fresh ammo in Pitroda’s comments to open yet another diversionary flank.

Although Modi did not name Pitroda, he alluded to him as “royal family adviser”.

“The dangerous intentions of the Congress are coming to the fore. The Congress now says it will impose an inheritance tax. The royal family shehzada’s (prince’s) adviser and the royal family prince’s father’s adviser had said more taxes should be imposed on the middle class and also those who earn by toiling hard. He (Pitroda) said this publicly,” Modi told an election rally in Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur.

“Now they (Congress) have gone a step further and the Congress is saying it will impose inheritance tax on the assets inherited by people from their parents. The property you have earned through hard work will not be given to your children. The ‘panja’ (Congress poll symbol) will snatch the assets from your children,” he added.

Borrowing the LIC’s ad campaign, Modi said: “The Congress mantra is: ‘Congress ki loot zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi’ (The Congress will loot while you are alive and also after you are dead).’”

The Prime Minister stressed that “those who considered the entire Congress party as their ancestral property and handed it over to their children don’t want Indians to pass on their property to their children”.

Even as he opened this new front against the Congress, the undisguised sectarian polarisation pitch of accusing the Opposition party of Muslim appeasement continued. Modi picked on the Congress-run Karnataka government’s move to include Muslims under the OBC category.

Addressing his second rally of the day in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar, the Prime Minister referred to the Karnataka government’s decision to intensify his allegation that the Congress was “insulting” Ambedkar’s Constitution and granting reservations based on religion.

“Once again, the Congress in Karnataka has given reservation based on religion and for that they have used the backdoor, resorted to illegal means for this crime against OBCs. They have put all the Muslim castes in the OBC category through one order,” Modi said, recalling how the BJP had scrapped it when it was in power in the state.

“By putting them (all Muslim castes) in the OBC category, the Congress has snatched a big portion of the rights of the OBCs and given reservation based on religion. This very formula the Congress wants to implement in the country,” he said and sought to amplify the pitch with a series of questions thrown at the crowd.

“Aap mujhe bataiye, kya isko lagu hona chahiye? Isko rokna chahiye ki nahi rokna chahiye? Puri taqat se deshwasiyon ko jagna chahiye ki nahi? (You tell me, should this be implemented? Shouldn’t this be stopped? Should the people of the country be awakened to this effort with all strength?)” Modi asked.

“Friends, elections will come and go but this dangerous game (of the Congress) will ruin your future generations,” he said. “The Congress is the biggest enemy of the OBC communities. The Congress has murdered social justice…. Congress ne Baba Sahab ka ghor apmaan kiya hai (The Congress has insulted Ambedkar).”

Modi, who had abandoned the aggressive “abki baar chaar sau paar” cry after the first round of polling, returned to it at the rally, stressing that he needed the brute majority to protect the reservation benefits of the “SCs, STs and OBCs”.

“Friends, they ask me why this 400-plus? I want to answer them. The game you are playing in the states to steal, to loot the reservations of SCs, STs and OBCs, to stop this game forever, Modi needs 400-plus seats,” he said.

“I have to save the reservations of Dalits; I have to save the reservation of tribals; I have to save the reservation of OBCs. And since I am one from this section (an OBC), I will protect your rights and I need your blessings for this,” he said.