Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attacked the Congress over its leader Sam Pitroda's "inheritance tax" remark, saying that the grand old party's "dangerous intentions" of snatching the assets and rights of people have come to the force.
The Congress will loot and equally distribute people's earnings and properties, he claimed while addressing an election rally in Ambikapur, the headquarter of Surguja district, in Chhattisgarh.
"The dangerous intentions of Congress are coming to forth one by one and now it says it will impose inheritance tax. The advisor of 'shehzada' of the 'shahi parivar', who was also the advisor to the shehzada's father, said that more tax should be imposed on the middle class and those who earn by toiling hard," Modi said, apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi and Pitroda.
"He (the advisor) said this publicly. Now they (Congress) have gone a step further and Congress is saying it will impose inheritance tax. It will impose tax on the assets inherited by people from their parents. Now, the 'panja' (Congress poll symbol) will snatch the assets from your children," he said without taking any name.
Modi was apparently referring to a statement made by Indian Overseas Congress chairperson Sam Pitroda at Chicago in America over the inheritance tax law.
The PM said the Congress' mantra is "loot of Congress zindagi ke sath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi".
"Till you are alive, Congress will impose more tax and after your life ends, it will impose the burden of inheritance tax on you. They (Congress) want to snatch your assets and rights of your children," the PM added.
Congress does not want that common Indians give their property to their children. From values to culture, our country is not a consumerist country. We believe in accumulation, enrichment and preservation, he said.
"Today, our nature and environment is protected because of these values. Our old parents, grandparents keep their small ornaments safe thinking that it will be worn by their grandchildren during their wedding. The people of my country are fond of living life by taking loans. People are hard-working and spend as per their needs and have a tendency to accumulate," he said.
The Congress is going to attack strongly on the fundamental values and culture of India. The reason why they have given this statement yesterday is that this thinking of theirs is very old, he said.
"Why did a storm trigger in their camp (Congress). When I said that Urban Naxals and Urban Maoists have taken over the Congress, they felt that they should say something to appease America. When Modi made the allegations, they were pretending to turn towards the other side in a bid to balance. But they want to loot your property and snatch the rights of your children. Do you accept it?" he asked and the people replied in the negative.
The PM said that till the Congress was in power in the country, people's money was being looted, but after the BJP government was formed, people's money is being spent on them.
"The Congress's eyes are not only on your reservation, but also on your earnings, your houses, shops and farms. The 'shehzada' of Congress (apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi) says they will conduct an X-ray of the property of every house, cupboard and every family in the country. The little wealth and jewellery that our mothers and sisters have, Congress will also get them examined. In Surguja, our tribals wear tribal ornaments and and mangalsutra. Congress will snatch all this from you and they say that they will equally distribute them," he said.
"Do you know to whom they will distribute it after looting it from you? Will you allow me to commit this sin?" Modi asked.
Meanwhile, early in the morning, Sam Pitroda in a series of posts on his 'X' handle said his statement was twisted by the "Godi media" to divert the attention from the lies the PM was spreading about Congress manifesto.
"It is unfortunate that what I said as an individual on inheritance tax in the US is twisted by Godi media to divert attention from what lies PM is spreading about Congress manifesto. PM's comments Mangal Sutra & gold snatching is simply unreal," he said.
"I mentioned US inheritance tax in the US only as an example in my normal conversation on TV. Can I not mention facts? I said these are the kind of issues people will have to discuss and debate. This has nothing to do with policy of any party including congress," he said.
"Who said 55% will be taken away? Who said something like this should be done in India? Why is BJP and media in panic?," Pitroda added.
Meanwhile, the Congress distanced itself from Pitroda's "inheritance tax" remarks, saying sensationalising them are attempts at diverting attention from PM Modi's "malicious" poll campaign.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
