PM Modi takes jibe at 'Yuvraj' Rahul Gandhi, says wealth tax is Congress 'sinister plan'

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has doubled down on the push for redistribution of wealth through measures such as inheritance tax terming them as "dangerous problems disguised as solutions."

In an interview with the Times of India, PM Modi asked, "Would you work day and night if the government takes away your money at the end in the name of redistribution?."

He also took a jibe at Congress Rahul Gandhi and referring to him as 'Yuvraj' and stated that the actions of the Opposition was an example of a scorched earth policy.

The Prime Minister at the end of second round of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections added that ideas such as a wealth tax would "kill" the startup revolution and were merely a way to please " the opposition's vote bank." He further said that these ideas carried the risk of creating "complete and irreversible communal disharmony."

"I do not think they are solutions by any stretch of imagination," PM Modi said terming that they are actually dangerous problems disguised as solutions."

"If we really want to ensure people's growth, we just need to remove barriers and empower them. This unleashes their entrepreneurial potential as we have seen in our country; even in tier 2 or 3 cities, which are given rise to a lot of startups and sports stars," he said.

PM Modi noted that wealth redistribution, wealth tax etc have never been successful because they never removed poverty, they just distributed it so that everyone is equally poor.

"The poor remain stricken with poverty, wealth creation stops and poverty becomes uniform. These policies sow discord and block every road to equity, they create hatred and destabilise the economic as well as social fabric of a nation," he said.

Amid the ongoing intense campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections, PM Modi stated that inheritance tax is a "sinister plan" of the Congress party and should not be considered as "very real" threat that "stands to hurt our nation irreversibly."

Criticising Rahul Gandhi's proposal for an X-ray or social-economic survey to redistribute wealth, PM Modi described it as "a clear example of Maoist thinking and ideology."

"It is saddening to see the Congress party and its Yuvraj carrying forward such Maoist vision which is a recipe for disaster."

"You would have seen the Yuvraj saying that we will do an X-ray. This X-ray is nothing but raiding every home. They will raid farmers to see how much land they possess. They will raid the common man to see how much wealth he/she has earned through hard work. They will raid the ornaments of our women," he said.

"Our Constitution protects the property of all minorities. This means that when Congress talks of redistribution, it cannot touch the properties of minorities, it cannot consider waqf properties for redistribution but it will eye the properties of other communities. This will sow complete and irreversible communal disharmony," PM Modi said.

Responding to a query on criticism by the opposition alleging threat to democracy and that the country is moving towards being an 'electoral autocracy', PM Modi said the opposition is not able to get power, they start defaming India on the world stage.

"They spread canards about our people, our democracy and our institutions. India does not become an electoral autocracy if the Yuvraj cannot automatically get power. Just because he has to fight elections and the people of India are not impressed by him doesn't make India less democratic. I don't think there are many takers for such charges in foreign capitals," PM Modi said.

He said that the past 10 years will be remembered for creating the maximum number of opportunities across all three segments- public sector, private sector and entrepreneurship.

Asked about his experience of having steered India in a conflict-ridden world, PM Modi said today, the world respects India for being able to ensure that fuel and energy prices for its citizens stayed in control despite the global conflicts.

"Whenever I meet world leaders, I see that their interest and attraction for India is increasing. They see the situation in their countries and compare it with how India is a nation brimming with optimism and opportunities. I see genuine respect for India and Indians. Yes, the world is today filled with conflicts and chaos, but there are islands of calm and growth like India. India's role is more important in the world than ever before," PM Modi said.

He also rubbished Congress' allegations that BJP attempting communal polarisation through election campaign speeches, PM Modi said it was not polarisation to show that the Congress has violated the Constitution and enacted laws providing reservation on the basis of religion.

He cited the actions of the Congress government in Karnataka, which reversed the law passed by BJP to provide reservation to OBCs and gave it to Muslims, classifying all Muslims as OBC. and the said Congress government in Telangana wanted to replicate this move.

"This proves that Congress wants to reduce the reservation provided to SCs, STs and OBCs across the country and give it to minorities. What else can one expect from a party whose prime minister said that minorities have the first right on resources of this country?" PM Modi said.

He further said that Uniform Civil Code, too, is one of the core agendas of the BJP and "We will do everything in our capacity to make Uniform Civil Code a reality in India."

PM Modi said that unprecedented display of love affection and support by people at his rallies and roadshows gave him confidence of getting a third straight term and that he was striving for a 400 plus tally to foil the "evil"designs of the opposition parties to take away reservations and rights of SCs'STs and OBCs and give them to their vote bank."

Asked about the situation in Delhi where sitting Chief Minister Arvind Kejrwal is in jail would become a precedent, PM Modi said, "I am optimistic that this will not become a precedent. I feel other politicians won't be so lacking in morals and will not go to this extent."

Answering another query on allegations of the government misusing investigating agencies, particularly ED and CBI, to harass political opponents, he said only a small fraction of the agencies' cases is related to political figures.

"Of the corruption cases probed by the ED, only 3 per cent involve politicians. The remaining 97 per cent are linked to officials and criminals. Action is being taken against them too. Over the last 11 years, out of 10,622 preliminary inquiries and regular cases being investigated by the CBI, only about 1-1.5 per cent of the total cases involved politicians," PM Modi said.