Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Wednesday slammed Sam Pitroda over his remarks on the redistribution of wealth, where the Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress advocated an inheritance tax law in the country, while Congress distanced itself from the comments, saying that his views do not always reflect the position of the party.
The controversy erupted after Pitroda, while emphasising the need for policy towards wealth redistribution, spoke about the concept of inheritance tax prevailing in America and said that these are issues that will need to be discussed.
Addressing a poll rally in Chhattisgarh, PM Narendra Modi claimed that the "dangerous intentions" of Congress are coming to fruition and quipped that those who treated the party as a family heirloom now oppose inheritance rights for Indians.
"...The property you have accumulated through your hard work will not be given to your children. The claws of Congress will snatch that too from you...As long as you are alive, Congress will impose higher taxes and when you are no longer alive, it will burden you with inheritance tax. Those people who considered the entire Congress party as their ancestral property and handed it over to their children, now do not want Indians to pass on their property to their children," Modi said.
Home Minister Amit Shah also flayed Pitroda's remarks, saying, "The appeasement politics of the Congress stand exposed today with Sam Pitroda's statement on wealth redistribution. He reaffirmed the party's intention to seize the property of the majority and distribute it among the minority," Shah said.
"It yet again brings to the fore that the empowerment of India's poor, Dalits, youth, tribes, and backward classes was never on Congress's agenda," he added.
Meanwhile, the Congress distanced itself from Pitroda's "inheritance tax" remarks, saying sensationalising them are attempts at diverting attention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "malicious" poll campaign.
AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said Pitroda has been a mentor, friend, philosopher, and guide to many across the world, and has made numerous and enduring contributions to India's developments.
"This does not mean that Mr. Pitroda's views always reflect the position of the Indian National Congress. Many times, they do not. Sensationalising his comments now and tearing them out of context are deliberate and desperate attempts at diverting attention away from Mr. Narendra Modi's malicious and mischievous election campaign; that is anchored only in lies and more lies," Ramesh posted on X.
With his remarks triggering a row, Pitroda said on X that "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 the PM is spreading about the Congress manifesto. PM's comments on Mangal Sutra and gold snatching is simply unreal."
"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 the policy of any party including Congress," he said.
"Who said 55 percent will be taken away? Who said something like this should be done in India ? Why is BJP and media in panic," Pitroda asked.
The row comes after Pitroda had earlier elaborated on the concept of inheritance tax prevailing in America while emphasising the need for policy towards wealth redistribution.
"In America, there is an inheritance tax. If one has 100 million USD worth of wealth and, when he dies, he can only transfer probably 45 percent to his children, 55 percent is grabbed by the government. That's an interesting law. It says you, in your generation, made wealth and you are leaving now, you must leave your wealth for the public—not all of it, half of it, which to me sounds fair," Pitroda had said.
"In India, you don't have that. If somebody is worth 10 billion and he dies, his children get 10 billion, and the public gets nothing...So these are the kinds of issues people will have to debate and discuss. When we talk about redistributing wealth, we are talking about new policies and new programs that are in the interest of the people and not in the interest of the super-rich only," he added.
Pitroda also said that the subject of wealth distribution is strictly a 'policy issue' and he feels concerned about Prime Minister Modi after his remarks on the Congress manifesto.
"This is a policy issue. Congress party would frame a policy through which the wealth distribution would be better. We don't have a minimum wage (in India). If we come up with a minimum wage in the country saying you must pay so much money to the poor, that's the distribution of wealth. Today, rich people don't pay their peons, servants, and home help enough, but they spend that money on vacation in Dubai and London... When you talk about the distribution of wealth, it is not that you sit on a chair and say, I have this much money and I'll be distributing it to everybody," Pitroda said.
Prime Minister Modi and the BJP have criticised the Congress manifesto, alleging that the poll document smacks of appeasement. They also claimed that if Congress came to power, it would redistribute people's wealth and also give reservations to Muslims from the quota for SC, ST, and OCB communities.
In India, the concept of levying tax on inheritance does not exist as of now. In fact, the inheritance or estate tax was abolished with effect from 1985.
