Amidst intensifying criticism of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Wealth Redistribution’ promise, Former Cricketing veteran Venkateshwar Prasad on Monday (22nd April) slammed the thought process behind the idea as ‘pathetic’. Prasad explained the problem with the wealth redistribution promise by using an analogy from the Cricket field.
In a sarcastic critique, Venkatesh Prasad likened the redistribution of wealth to the point system used in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). He argued that the concept is akin to deducting points from the top-performing teams in the tournament, and redistributing them to the bottom three teams, alluding to the potential dampening effect on the competitive spirit and passion for the game among the players.
Without naming Congress directly, Prasad posted, “One of the political party’s manifesto is to redistribute the wealth of the rich to the poor. The really poor need to be uplifted but this thought process is so pathetic. It is like saying If we take 4 points from RR and 4 from KKR and SRH and re-distribute it to the bottom 3 teams, they can make the playoffs.”
PM Modi lambasts Congress over Rahul Gandhi’s promises of ‘Wealth Redistribution’
Notably, on 6th April, Congress leader and I.N.D.I. Alliance’s possible PM Face for Lok Sabha Elections 2024, Rahul Gandhi, promised an ultra-left idea of ‘wealth redistribution’. He claims that it would eradicate poverty and socioeconomic inequality. Gandhi said if Congress (with the alliance parties) came to power, his party would conduct a financial and institutional survey to ascertain who had wealth in the country. He said the grand old party would then distribute the wealth to the backward castes and ‘minorities’ based on their population, based on caste census data.
During a public rally in Hyderabad, Rahul Gandhi, stressing the party’s “Jitni aabaadi utna haq” slogan, said, “We will first conduct a nationwide caste census to determine how many people belong to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and minorities. After that, we will conduct a financial and institutional survey in a historic step to ascertain the distribution of wealth.”
Yesterday, on 21st April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Wealth Redistribution’ promise during an election rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara.
During his address, PM Modi slammed the Congress party over promising Wealth redistribution. He warned the voters that according to the Congress party’s announcement, if they form the government, gold, silver, ornaments like Mangalsutra, property, etc of Indians will be surveyed. PM Modi stressed that ‘Mangalsutra’ is more about their feelings and dreams than Gold.
PM Modi emphasised, “They have said that if they form a government, then a survey of property belonging to every person will be done. It will be checked how much gold our sisters own, how much money government employees have…They also said that gold owned by our sisters would be equally distributed. Does govt have the right to take your property? ‘Mangalsutra’ sone ki keemat ka mudda nahi hai, unke sapno se juda hua hai…”
PM Modi recalled the infamous remark by then-PM Manmohan Singh where he argued that Muslims have the first right over resources.
Highlighting the same, the Prime Minister added that this means, that after doing the wealth survey, Congress will distribute it to people who have more children, to illegal migrants, and to Muslims, for whom Manmohan Singh had said they had the first right over resources.
While the debate has become a political potboiler, the concept of wealth redistribution is associated with communist and socialist ideologies. In the past, it has been implemented in various forms, and most of the time, it has ended in economic and social disaster for those nations. Click here, to read about the historical precedences that highlight the inefficacy of this ultra-leftist idea.