Four Ideas Of Congress That Party Is Scrambling To Defend

The Congress has been in the crosshairs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders for its many ideas and promises this election season and it is having a hard time defending them. Here are four of them:

1. Inheritance tax is the latest controversy sparked by Indian Overseas Congress president Sam Pitroda as he praised American law that transfers only 45 per cent of one's property after death to his children and 55 per cent is grabbed by the government.

While the Congress clarified that Pitroda's views do not always reflect the position of the party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders have been attacking Congress leaders for being "property snatchers".

"The property you accumulate through your hard work will not go to your children. Congress ka mantra hai - Congress ki loot zindagi ke saath bhi aur zindagi ke baad bhi (The mantra of the Congress is - Congress' plunder persists during life and even after life)," Modi said,

2. Distribution of wealth: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said earlier this month, "After conducting a caste survey, we will take up the historic assignment to distribute the wealth of India along with jobs and other schemes targeted towards prioritised sections."

PM Modi linked this statement to former PM Manmohan Singh's 2006 remark that Muslims have the first claim on the country's resources and said, "This means that they will collect your assets and distribute to those who have more children."

In response, the Congress approached Election Commission and emphasised that PM Modi's comments were "more egregious than any ever made by a sitting Prime Minister in the history of India" and urged for appropriate action to be taken.

3. Personal laws: While the BJP promises the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the Congress manifesto says, "Congress will ensure that, like every citizen, minorities have the freedom of choice of dress, food, language and personal laws."

Retention of personal laws clearly points towards the party's appeasement politics that it has been following for decades and practically means no UCC. Also, the choice of food can mean that the ban on cow slaughter will be reversed.

Coming to choice of dress, at worst it may involve allowing girls to wear hijabs to school. The hijab controversy started in Karnataka inter colleges and spread to many parts of the country. However, the courts did not allow wearing hijabs in educational institutes.

4. Freebies: While the BJP manifesto also includes some freebies, the Congress showers them from a helicopter without regard to resources. The promise of Rs 1 lakh for women-led households and the right to first apprenticeship (again at Rs 1 lakh annually) are some of them.

Moreover, higher minimum wages, legal guarantees for agricultural minimum support prices (MSPs), recruitment of 30 lakh people to fill government job vacancies, and making constitutional changes to raise quotas in jobs beyond 50 per cent are also promised.