Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Technocrat-politician Sam Pitroda’s comments on inheritance tax troubled the Congress amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections even as the party on Wednesday distanced itself from his remarks saying that it will not implement such a measure.
BJP latched on to Pitroda’s comments, with the Prime Minister leading the charge, saying the Congress was planning to impose higher taxes and does not want people to pass on their hard-earned wealth to their children but it hit back with clippings of ministers under Modi supporting the idea.
The Congress sought to turn the tables on the BJP by dishing out a video of former Minister of State Jayant Sinha’s advocacy of “50 to 55%” inheritance tax earlier and BJP leaders’, including IT Cell head Amit Malviya's support for the idea.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that his party does not not have any such intentions. “Why are you putting his ideas (Modi’s) in our mouth? He is playing all these games just for votes. You should also realise this,” he added.
Pitroda, who heads Indian Overseas Congress, referred to inheritance tax in the United States and said these are the kind of issues people should debate, amid allegations from Modi and the BJP that the Congress was planning to redistribute wealth of people to Muslims.
“If one has USD 100 million worth of wealth (in US) and when he dies he can only transfer probably 45% to his children, 55% 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. 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,” he said.
“So these are the kind of issues people will have to debate and discuss. I don't know what the conclusion would be at the end of the day but 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.
Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said the party does not subscribe to the views of Pitroda, who is a “mentor, friend, philosopher, and guide to many across the world, and has made numerous and enduring contributions to India's developments.
“Pitroda expresses his opinions freely on issues he feels strongly about. Surely, in a democracy an individual is at liberty to discuss, express, and debate his personal views. This does not mean that Pitroda's views always reflect the position of the Congress. Many times they do not,” he said.
“Sensationalising his comments now and tearing them out of context are deliberate and desperate attempts at diverting attention away from Narendra Modi's malicious and mischievous election campaign; that is anchored only in lies and more lies,” he said on ‘X’.
Pitroda also sought to defend himself saying his remarks were “twisted by ‘Godi’ (pliant) media” to divert attention from what “lies” Modi is spreading about the Congress manifesto.
“The PM's comments on mangalsutra and gold snatching are 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 ?...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 asked.
This is not the first time that Pitroda has landed Congress in trouble, as he endorsed Sudheendra Kulkarni's views that Jawaharlal Nehru's contribution to the making of the Constitution was more than that of B R Ambedkar. Pitroda later deleted the tweet.