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Kochi (Kerala): Taking a jibe at the Congress, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that after the comments of the Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress Sam Pitroda advocating an inheritance tax like law, the party has been completely exposed.
Speaking to ANI, Amit Shah said "After Sam Pitroda's remark, Congress party is completely exposed. First of all, mention of 'survey' in their manifesto, Manmohan Singh's old statement which is Congress' legacy - that minorities have the first right over resources of the country, and now Sam Pitroda's remark citing the United States that there should be deliberations on the distribution of wealth... 55% of wealth goes to the government's property. `"
He further said, "Now when PM Modi raised this issue, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and the entire Congress party are on the back foot that it was never their motive. But today, Sam Pitroda's statement has made Congress' motive clear before the country. They want to survey the private property of the people of the country, put it in government property and distribute it as per decision during UPA's regime."
The Home Minister also demanded that the Congress should either withdraw or accept that distributing wealth is their intention. He said,
"Congress should either withdraw it from their manifesto or accept that it is indeed their intention...I want people to take Sam Pitroda's statement seriously. Their intention is now in the open, its cognisance should be taken by people..."
Earlier, emphasising the need for policy toward wealth redistribution, Pitroda spoke about on the concept of inheritance tax prevailing in America and said these are issued that will need to be discussed.
"In America, there is an inheritance tax. If one has 100 million USD worth of wealth and when he dies he can only transfer 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," Pitroda had said.
After the comments snowballed into a controversy Pitroda sought to downplay the issue saying he had only cited inheritance tax in the US as an example.
"Who said 55% will be taken away? Who said something like this should be done in India? Why is BJP and media in panic? I mentioned US inheritance tax in the US only as an example in my normal conversation on TV. Can I not mention facts? I said these are the kind of issues people will have to discuss and debate. This has nothing to do with policy of any party including congress," Pitroda said in his post on X.
The Congress officially has distanced itself from Pitroda's comments saying that they did not reflect the view of the party at all times.
