Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing Vijay Sankalp Shankhnaad Maharally in Surguja, Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, attacked Congress over Indian Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda's inheritance tax remark, saying they (Congress) want to snatch your assets and rights of your children. Congress says it will impose inheritance tax, he added.
"The royal family's prince's advisor and the royal family's prince's father's advisor had said that more taxes should be imposed on the middle class. Now these people have gone one step further than this, Congress says that it will impose an Inheritance Tax, and it will also impose tax on the Inheritance received from parents. 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," he unleashed attacks on Congress.
Earlier, Pitroda stoked controversy after advocating for the US-like inheritance tax provisions in India to support Congress' alleged plan to redistribute assets in the country. The United States, there is an inheritance tax according to which the government is entitled to claim 55 per cent share of a person's wealth while the owner can transfer only 45 per cent share to his children or family, he added.
However, seeing the controversy snowballing, Congress distanced itself from Pitroda's statement. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said Pitroda's opinion does not reflect the position of the party.
"Sam Pitroda has been a mentor, friend, philosopher, and guide to many across the world, including me. He has made numerous, enduring contributions to India's developments. He is the president of the Indian Overseas Congress. Mr 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 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. Narenda Modi's malicious and mischievous election campaign; that is anchored ONLY in lies and more lies," Ramesh posted a note on X.
