PM Modi Provided 'Minimum Income Guarantee' to His 15 Rich Friends, But We Will Do it for Poor: Rahul

Kochi: Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the former has only provided 'maximum income guarantee' to 15 of his rich friends in the five years of his tenure.

Gandhi’s dig came a day after announcing that the Congress would ensure "minimum income guarantee" to the poor if the party was voted to power at the Centre in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"For the last five years, he has provided a maximum income guarantee to 15 of his friends. We have decided that if Narendra Modi can give maximum income guarantee to 15 rich people, we will give minimum income guarantee to every single citizen," Gandhi said.

Stating that the Prime Minister had done nothing for farmers, the Congress chief said his party would ensure their welfare.

"We have waived off farm loans in the three states where we won elections.... (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh),” said Rahul, adding the Congress will make up for “all the crimes that the Modi government has committed against farmers in five years”.

Speaking to booth-level party workers in Kochi, Gandhi said, like MGNREGA committed right to work, RTI ensured right to information and Food Security Bill guaranteed the right to food, the Congress now promised minimum income to every poor Indian citizen.

Further, Gandhi said the proposed women's bill would be passed on a priority if the party was voted to power in the 2019 elections. "We want to see women in position of leadership," he added.

The bill seeking to reserve 33 per cent of seats in Parliament and legislature has been pending for a long time in view of lack of consensus.

When asked for his opinion on the Sabarimala issue, Gandhi refrained from directly commenting on the issue.

He said the Congress respected the traditions of Kerala and did not agree with the violence “carried out by the BJP and CPI(M)” in Kerala.

He said the two parties work on 'dividing' the people of Kerala, while putting the real issues of jobs and protection of farmers on the back burner.

He also flayed the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax.

Gandhi told the party workers the Congress had launched a 'shakti' programme in which all workers could directly talk to the leadership.

"Want every single Congress worker to feel 'Ente booth, ente abhimaan, ente party' ("my booth, my pride, my party), the party chief added.