Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday reiterated his party’s poll promise of ensuring that every poor person in the country would get a guaranteed minimum income, likening the measure to the employment guarantee available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
“We have taken a historic decision,” Mr. Gandhi said, addressing a public rally in this western Odisha city. “People have been benefited by MGNREGA. But the decision which we are now taking is bigger than MGNREGA. Congress party has been working on a minimum income for all poor for five to six months,” he added.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he would give ₹17 per day to a farmer’s family. Congress will guarantee payment of minimum income to every poor person in India,” the Congress chief said.
“If Narendra Modi could write off loans amounting to ₹3.5 lakh crore of 15 industrialists, Congress would make sure that minimum income would be credited into the accounts of every poor person,” he asserted. “The time for jokes and deceit is over”
Mr. Gandhi also repeated his poll promises of a crop loan waiver and the revision of minimum support price to ₹2,600 per quintal of paddy to win over voters in western Odisha.
The Congress leader also promised to make improvements to the land acquisition act that would ensure the return of the acquired land to the landowner if industry failed to use it in five years. He added that land belonging to the poor and the tribals would not be acquired without consulting them. Moreover, land would be acquired at prices that would be four times the existing market value.
Remote-controlled CM
Citing the travails faced by Dana Majhi, a tribal man who had walked 12 km carrying his wife’s body, Mr. Gandhi accused Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of keeping ‘mum’ and not apologising.
Later, addressing a public rally in Rourkela, Mr. Gandhi asserted that Mr. Modi and Mr. Patnaik were hand in glove on the issue of corruption. “Odisha CM is remote-controlled by Mr. Modi. Whatever PM dictates Mr. Patnaik does it here,” claimed Mr. Gandhi.