Rahul’s ‘Royal Magician’ claim on ‘Garibi Hatao’

From Nehru to the present government, every political party has been using the poor and the slogan of eradication of poverty. But 75 years down the lane, all have failed to do so. Perhaps, they planned to fail because they wanted a permanent vote bank. So, no one is serious about the eradication of poverty. They only want to throw some crumbs in the name of welfare which includes direct benefit cash transfer and claim they are changing the face of India. Dear leaders how long will you continue to cheat the voters?

‘Garibi Hatao Desh Bachao’ (Remove poverty, save the country) was the theme and slogan of Indira Gandhi’s 1971 election campaign. Similarly, Rajiv Gandhi made the same promise, but poverty still remains. Now, lo and behold, Rahul Gandhi whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls a ‘Shehzada’ and ‘Royal Magician’ has come up with some fantastic ideas and promises. If INDI bloc gets majority on June 4, by August 15 they will start the process of filling 4.3 lakh jobs. Wow, what a speed! But, what he forgot to mention is by when all the jobs will be filled. Does he or his bloc know the financial implications of it? How much money would be required to pay as salaries? Can he assure that to meet the increased expenditure, the dream government will not impose any fresh taxes? Has any scientific exercise been done in this regard?

Another piece of gem that rolled out from Rahul’s brain is that they will remove poverty from the country in one stroke. His formula is fantastic. He says the INDI government will transfer Rs 1 lakh into the accounts of the poor. Then they will spend that money on buying various goods like pants, shirts, shoes etc. Seeing the increase in spending this money would bring among the poorer sections, industries will start manufacturing more such goods and the children of these weaker sections would get jobs in those companies. He does not talk of need-based skill development. Unless any government focuses on this aspect how can they get jobs whether it is public sector or private sector? He calls it as jump start of economy. He also says ‘Pahli Naukari Pakki.’ This is another interesting concept. First, job is guaranteed for one year in PSU or in private sector and along with it they will transfer Rs 1 lakh.

Rahul who does not get tired of talking about Ambani and Adani should know that even when the country was passing through the licence raj in the era of 70s & 80s, Dhirubhai Ambani enjoyed good access to power corridors. For instance, if he was close to Congress leaders, he was equally close to BJP leaders as well. He had smooth business transactions in the regimes of all PMs, except V P Singh. Indira Gandhi saw Dhirubhai Ambani as a symbol of India’s growing business and economic power, and she appreciated his contributions to the country’s development. In the 1970s, Indira Gandhi’s government supported Reliance Industries’ efforts to expand its operations and become a major player in the Indian economy. Of course, there were times when differences did crop up between Indira Gandhi and Dhirubhai.

But, what really causes concern is why the Congress party always gets into a shell when it comes to controversial remarks made either by its own top leaders or alliance partners. When Sam Pitroda made racist comments on Indians based on their colour and region, Rahul did not even bother to say that they didn’t endorse it. If they had expelled him from the party, and said look we do not tolerate such nonsense, the stock of Congress would have certainly gone up. Seems Congress missed a good opportunity on eve of the fourth phase of polls.