Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated his crucial electoral promise of transferring Rs 1 lakh to the account of one woman from every poor household in the country if his party comes to power in the centre. He claimed that poverty would vanish from the country in a jiffy as a result of this cash handout, indicating that Congress is returning to its decades-old ‘Gareebi Hatao’ campaign for the election.
He was addressing a public rally on 11th April in Rajasthan’s Anupgarh when the Gandhi scion declared, “Agar aap gareebi rekha ke neeche ho, aapke bank account main har saal 1 lakh rupaiya, 8,500 rupaiya mahina ka khatakhat khatakhat khatakhat khatakhat aata rahega aur ek jhatke se Hindustan se hum gareebi ko mita denge. Maze ki baat suniye, aur us din take daalenge jis din tak aap gareebi rekha se nikal jaoge. (If you fall below the poverty line, our government will deposit Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 8,500 per month into your account each year until you rise above the threshold).”
His lofty pledges, however, were met with disapproval on social media, as people criticized the Congress party for failing to put their words into practice despite governing the nation for several decades. A popular user The Skin Doctor mocked, “Why in the 76 years since independence has no one come up with this easy and effective idea to solve poverty? Why did we have to live in such abject destitution and hunger? It is the nation’s tragedy that Rahulji was born late. We would have been the richest country in the world and free of poverty if he had been prime minister in 1947.”
Journalist and YouTuber Ajeet Bharti also slammed the Wayanad Lok Sabha MP for his irrational statement and commented, “They will eradicate poverty in one go. His father has a gold mine in Italy where digging will fetch Rs 16 lakh crores every year.”
Another netizen condemned the Congress leader for making false promises and urged voters not to fall for them. She wrote, “They slept for 60 years and then promised to make gold from potatoes (referring to Rahul Gandhi’s 2017 speech). They offered fictitious assurances. Nobody was able to eradicate poverty including Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and now Rahul Gandhi. They are only always trying.”
A person remarked, “After the public stunned Congress in 2014 (because Bharatiya Janta Party-led National Democratic Alliance won) the numbers on poverty have been coming down,” in response to the parliamentarian’s announcement.
Congress party’s roadmap to bankrupt India
Congress made several promises to various sections of society in its manifesto ‘Nyay Patra’ which was released on 5th April including a legal guarantee for MSP, raising the minimum daily wage under MGNREGA to Rs 400, a confirmed first job and an annual stipend of Rs 1 lakh to educated youth, an assistance worth Rs 1 lakh annually to a woman from poor families among others. However, its most striking feature was the absence of any definite roadmap or an organised strategy necessary for upholding the commitments.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman blasted the manifesto’s irresponsible proposals. She stated, “The promises made by the Congress in their manifesto are un-implementable and there will be a budget deficit. There would be a lack of funds to implement those.” The manifesto didn’t have a single plan for development or wealth and capital generation to fuel the progress of a growing economy.
The party further pledged to double the GDP of the nation in the next ten years. While this may seem like a wonderful idea on the surface, it will slow down India’s present GDP growth which is currently estimated to be worth about $3.7 trillion and over the coming years, it is projected to expand by 7% to 8%. According to estimates from the Modi administration, India’s GDP will grow to $7 trillion by 2030. Accordingly, the GDP will more than double during the next six years, however, the Congress party intends to accomplish the same goal in ten years.
The Congress party has also pledged to create 40 lakh central government jobs in its manifesto but has not revealed a feasible strategy to achieve the target. The Indian government has over 40 lakh sanctioned posts with more than 30 lakh employees and over 9.64 lakh posts currently vacant. It is unclear whether the party will create new positions to fulfil its commitment or will force current employees to retire early and be replaced by new hires.
The party even promised that they would write off the amount due on all student loans, including unpaid interests, till 15th March 2024 as a one-time measure of relief “due to widespread unemployment” and claimed that the banks would be compensated by the government but made no mention of how they plan to do it. The Congress Manifesto is a bright example of unending freebies, zero wealth production and no development initiatives. These promises while appealing on the surface would amount to nothing in the absence of a reasonable and viable roadmap which the party failed to present.
Congress party’s anti middle-class approach
Sam Pitroda, Rahul Gandhi’s political advisor was recently heard revealing that the hardworking middle class will have to foot the bill for all of the benefits and subsidies the party promised, in an undated video which went viral on social media. The interviewer asked, “It looks like if the Congress comes to power, the burden of all these schemes will come on us, the middle class,” to which he replied, “Not true. The middle class will have more opportunities. The middle class will get more jobs. Today there are no jobs. Taxes may go up a little bit. I don’t think that’s a major issue. Let’s not worry about that. Don’t be selfish, okay. Have a big heart.”
Apart from berating the middle class for not pulling out their money to ensure Congress keeps its word, he added, “How can you see poor people around you and feel that somebody can take 10 paise out of you? That’s not India. If you and I have to tighten our belts then we should. There is nothing wrong with it. They are our brothers, they are our cousins, they are our nephews.”
His comment was not well received by netizens, who criticized the Congress party for exploiting the middle class as a piggy bank for its electoral ambitions without taking their welfare into account. Meanwhile, the value of the total assets of Rahul Gandhi has gone up by over 28%, from over Rs 15 crore in 2019 to over Rs 20 crore in 2024. Therefore, he has become richer by over Rs 6 crore in the last 5 years.
The colossal failure of Congress’ “Gareebi Hatao” slogan
The first prime minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, spoke to the populace from the Red Fort, explaining how changes in one region of the world impact prices in India to justify the government’s inability to tackle inflation at the time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also pointed out the same during his 2022 speech in Lok Sabha.
PM Modi conveyed, “He addressed the nation and said that sometimes even a fight in Korea affects us, because of which prices of things increase. This was Nehruji, India’s first Prime Minister. The first prime minister of the country surrendered to price rise in front of the citizens of the country. He further alleged that if something happens in America, then even that affects prices in India,” when globalisation was not such a crucial factor as it is today.
The famous “Gareebi/Garibi Hatao Desh Bachao” (remove poverty and save the country) slogan was first used by the late Indira Gandhi during her 1971 election campaign. However, despite several decades of Congress rule, the slogan remained a mere token because of the party’s pervasive corruption and incompetence. India’s poverty persisted for many years, although the Nehru-Gandhi family and their loyalists significantly lifted their financial status. Congress, just like now had no practical plan to turn the slogan into reality and its sole purpose was to gather votes.
When he was prime minister in the 1980s, the late Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi’s son, was compelled to admit that, for every rupee meant for welfare and poverty alleviation, only a small portion, 15 paise reached the intended recipient due to the appalling condition of corruption inside the Congress party. There have been generations of corruption ingrained in the foundation of the grand old party.
PM Modi in his speech in the lower house mentioned, “Congress has been winning elections since 1971 on the slogan of ‘Gareebi Hatao.’ Even after 40 years, poverty didn’t go anywhere but Congress government changed the definition of poverty. In 2013, in just one stroke, they created magic on paper and made 17 crore poor people rich.”
The Planning Commission, a part of the UPA run by the Congress asserted in 2013 that the estimated poverty line was Rs. 27 per day for people living in rural areas and Rs. 33 per day for those residing in urban areas. Therefore, anyone making more than the stated amount would not be seen as impoverished. As a result, the proportion of the Indian population living in poverty decreased from 37.2% to 21.9%.
How could anyone forget the numerous corruption charges that dogged the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), led by Congress including coal block allocation, Commonwealth Games, 2G Telecom, Hawk aircraft purchase, land for jobs, and Saradha Chit Fund to name a few of them? The scams were also mentioned by the Modi government when it introduced a “White Paper” to highlight the government’s achievements from 2014 to 2024.
It read, “There was pervasive corruption in various government activities, including in procurement, allocation of natural resources, and regulatory approvals. Procurements vital for the nation’s security were also not free from corruption. The scams and corruption cases had shaken the confidence of the people.”
Rahul Gandhi and his tryst with similar statements in the past
Rahul Gandhi’s 2013 speech on dalit empowerment which was encapsulated in the “escape velocities” of Earth and Jupiter quickly gained traction among people mocking the “political physics” of the leader. He claimed, “Aeronautics mein ek escape velocity ka concept hota hai. Escape velocity matlab agar aap ne dharti se space mein jana ha, agar aap hamari dharti pe hai to 11.2 kilometres per second aap ki velocity honi padegi. Agar use kam hogi to aap kitna bhi karenge aap space mein nahin ja sakte aur agar jyada ho gayi to aap nikal jayenge.”
He meant that there is a concept of escape velocity if you want to go into space from Earth. Your velocity has to be 11.2 kilometres/second. Any speed below escape velocity won’t do. If it is less then you can’t go into space, if it is more then you will get away.
He added, “To Jupiter ki escape velocity kya hoti hai? Agar koi Jupiter pe khada hai aur Jupiter ki kheech se nikalna ho to use 60 kilometres/second ki acceleration chahiye. Yahan Hindustan mein hamara jaat ka concept hai. Is mein bhi escape velocity hoti hai. Dalit community ko is dharti pe Jupiter ki escape velocity chahiye.” (If you are standing on Jupiter you need to go at 60 kilometres/second. In India we have caste. Dalits need Jupiter’s escape velocity on Earth). Rahul stated that Dalits have to put in a lot of effort to reach escape velocity, however, it was uncertain if his audience understood the absurd comparison.
“Poverty is just a state of mind. It does not mean the scarcity of food, money or material things. If one possesses self-confidence, then one can overcome poverty,” the parliamentarian had declared his own bizarre definition of poverty in 2013 which left the people fuming. Notably, the remark came soon after Congress leader Raj Babbar had commented that a hearty meal in Mumbai could be bought for Rs 12 while another party leader late Rasheed Masood had claimed that Rs 5 was sufficient for a meal in Delhi.
Ahead of the 2017 Gujarat election, a video of Rahul Gandhi went viral in which he promised potato farmers that he would install a machine that could convert potatoes into gold. However, the video was claimed to be edited and he was poking fun at PM Modi for making a similar statement but given the Congress MP’s propensity to have his foot in his mouth on a regular basis, this video was believed by many to be a real statement made by him.
Rahul Gandhi has a lengthy history of making ridiculous remarks and shenanigans that lead to mockery. His actions additionally disclose his disconnection from the ground reality. His ambitious political project “Bharat Jodo Yatra” also had several such comments from Congress’ very own ultracrepidarian.
Conclusion
Despite all the nonsense and mockery directed towards Rahul Gandhi, it is undeniable that he and his party intend to impede the development of our nation with their political handouts. His party is pushing the nation in the same direction, having been a complete failure in delivering on its promises even while being in power for several years. The first family of the party and its ecosystem are the only ones who have benefited under the Congress rule while others are merely served freebies on a platter of empty slogans.