Senior leaders in the Congress have been somewhat left confused after Congress president Rahul Gandhi announced the Minimum Income Guarantee on Monday. Sources in the party said that Gandhi's announcement came without any warning and that the matter was under discussion. The announcement has left senior leaders scrambling for replies on how the party now intends to implement the programme.

Soon after the announcement, sources said, senior leaders, including P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh, Anand Sharma, and Ghulam Nabi Azad, went into a huddle to devise a workable solution. The contention of the leaders was that if the party has to offer the guarantee to those living below the poverty line, then subsidies on either food, fuel or fertilisers will have to be curbed, which will anger the middle class.

In addition to that, the International Monetary Fund's definition of a minimum income, which is Rs 2,600 per month, would bring the cost of the scheme to Rs 72,000 crore. The leaders also contended that if the Congress's style of functioning will be as autocratic as their political rival, PM Modi's, then the difference between both parties will be scant.

One of the leaders, present in the meeting, told DNA that the suggestions for minimum income came up during manifesto consultations and that the party's Research Coordination team was still working out its feasibility. "The view was that we should not be seen as another party with 'jumlas' to offer. And that, we offer anything that we can implement in the first 100 days of coming to power, as we did with the loan waivers in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh. All these were backed by ample research and legwork," said the leader.

The leader said that party leaders are now livid with the 'premature announcement' and angry that the implementation is under question.

At the party's office, while speaking to reporters on Tuesday, national spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that Gandhi had made a "declaration of intent" and he will "walk the talk" on the promise.

The party's data analytics head, Praveen Chakravarty, who has time and again given Gandhi statistics and data for electoral decisions, told DNA that the move is backed by data. "The feedback that we have got time and again is that income is a source of distress for people around the country. Only a minimum income guarantee can help stop it," said Chakravarty.

Bone Of Contentions

• Leaders said that for such a guarantee to those living below the poverty line, subsidies on either food, fuel or fertilisers will have to be curbed, which will anger the middle class
• They said that difference between Cong and BJP will be scant if party works in an autocratic way