New Delhi: In the rough and tumble of a brutal, cut-throat election campaign, the Congress leadership must have discovered why Faiz Ahmed Faiz wrote decades ago: “Wo baat saare fasaane mein jiska zikr na tha/wo baat un ko bahut naagawaar gujri hai.”
Translated, this means: ‘The issue that wasn’t even mentioned in the entire story has hurt them the most.’
A fictitious issue of redistribution of wealth, that has not been mentioned in the manifesto – not even a vague reference – has tormented the party, almost threatening to derail its electioneering. While the party spokespersons have been struggling to douse the fire, manifesto committee chairman P. Chidambaram issued a statement early this morning (April 25), insisting that the “manufactured controversy” manifested the Bharatiya Janata Party’s fears.
Chidambaram said:
“It is obvious that the BJP is rattled by the Congress party’s election manifesto. The manifesto has left a deep impression in the minds of the people, especially the poor and the middle class. The manifesto gives new hope to the SC, ST, OBC, youth and women. The manifesto is religion-neutral and promises justice for all sections of the people. The latest manufactured controversy on ‘re-distribution of wealth’ and ‘inheritance tax’ is a good indicator of the fear that has gripped the BJP. The manifesto does not have a word on the so-called redistribution of wealth or the long-abolished inheritance tax.”
He further said:
“I wish to remind the people that ‘estate duty’ was abolished by a Congress government in 1985. Wealth tax was abolished by a BJP government in 2015. Congress manifesto is based on three magic words: Work, Wealth and Welfare. Work means that we will create more jobs for millions of people. Wealth means that we will adopt policies that will create wealth and increase our GDP rapidly. Welfare means that there will be measures that will increase the incomes and the quality of life of the poor and middle classes. Unfortunately for the BJP, its ‘Modi ki Guarantee’ has vanished without a trace. Hence, the BJP has fallen back on its old bag of tricks of distortion, falsehoods and abuse. I am certain that the people will see through the dangerous and divisive game of the BJP and elect a government that will usher in an era of growth, equity and justice – like the Congress did in 1991 and 2004.”
Most Congress leaders are intrigued by the fact that real and substantive issues like restoration of status quo on the Ladakh border, legal guarantee for minimum support price, Rs 1 lakh to every poor woman every year, apprenticeship law for educated youth, a right to health law, and a minimum wage of Rs 400 per day have not triggered any fierce debate, and a fictitious issue has been cropped up to drown everything else.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
Praveen Chakravarty, head of the All India Professionals’ Congress and a member of the manifesto committee, said the manifesto focused on rising economic inequality and promised a caste census and financial survey which would act like an X-ray of socio-economic conditions.
He said, “The natural next question is what comes after the X-ray? The Congress manifesto outlines policy proposals for greater reservation for the oppressed castes and specifies a slew of ideas to increase representation for these caste groups in various fields such as education, business, government contracts, jobs, loans and budgets.”
He said while these insinuations – like snatching of wealth and individual assets – are laughable, “they can trigger a toxic combination of communal, class and caste tension lit by a flame of lies.”
Firmly sticking to his caste survey plan, Rahul Gandhi said at several meetings a day ago that a frightened Modi was desperately trying to hijack the discourse. He also posted on X, saying, “Modi is shivering fearing defeat. He is lying constantly because of the realization that people have understood he worked for billionaires, not the poor. He now understands the ordinary people have risen to protect the Constitution. He knows the election has slipped out of his hands.”
Without getting into the redistribution debate, Rahul said, “Modi has written off Rs 16 lakh crore that 25-30 billionaires owed to the banks. This money could have been used to give [Rs] one lakh each to 16 crore youth for apprenticeship, or to 16 crore poor women or farmers.
“That would have changed their life. This money could have been used to prevent farmers for committing suicide because of small debts, or provide cylinder to households for Rs 400. This money could have been used to bear the expenses of Armed Forces or providing free education to Dalits, Adivasis, OBC youths. The money that could have healed the wounds of the poor was wasted on the Adanis of India. The country will not forgive Modi for this crime.”
The rest of Congress has confronted Modi with full force.
Priyanka Gandhi gave Modi’s “mangalsutra” barbs an emotional twist saying, “Modi will never understand the importance of mangalsutra; my mother’s mangalsutra was sacrificed for the country. My grandmother donated her jewellery during the China war.”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge took it to a higher plane by linking it to nationalism. Addressing public rallies a day ago, he asked Modi as to who is snatching the nation’s jewellery – the public sector units, airports, ports, roads, railways? – to be given to capitalist friends.
Sanjay K. Jha is a journalist and analyst.
