BJNY day 62: Rahul Gandhi promises minimum Rs 1 lakh income for Indian families

PALGHAR (MAHARASHTRA): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that there will be no family left in India with less than Rs one lakh income per year once Congress forms the government at the Centre after the 2024 general elections.

He said the time had come when the 90 percent population of the country, which has remained marginalized till now, deserves to get its share in the decision-making process as well the wealth and the resources of the nation, which have been otherwise pocketed by a select few percent of people.

Addressing a public meeting on the sixty-second day of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra here today, Gandhi referred to the Congress party’s guarantee that its government will provide Rs one lakh each to one woman in every poor family across the country. “This will leave no family in the country whose income will be less than Rs one lakh per annum”, he pointed out amidst loud cheers and applause.

He said it was no special favor to the women but their rightful due. He said women raise the future generations of the nation. He said the women work in double shifts as first they do their day-time jobs and once they are home they do other things like raising the family and the future generations of the nation.

Gandhi asserted that the caste census followed by an economic and financial survey was very important for the country at this stage to find out who controlled the wealth and resources of the country.

He said the census and survey will not be restricted to counting people alone, but it will also include different institutions and organizations to find out after 75 years of independence what the level and extent of participation of different sections of people.

The former Congress president maintained that about 90 percent population of the country including 50 percent backward, 15 percent Dalits, 15 percent minorities, 8 percent Adivasis, and about 5 percent poor from the general castes, still had no or negligible participation and representation in the country’s progress and the decision-making process. He said, right now the complete control was in the hands of just 2-3 percent of the people.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim about being an OBC himself, Gandhi said, first of all, he was not an OBC as his caste was included in the OBC list by the BJP government about 20 years ago. Second, he said, the question is not whether he is an OBC or not, but what he has done for the OBCs as they continue to remain neglected and marginalized.

The senior Congress leader made a fervent appeal to the 90 percent population of the country to realize their potential and strength and change the status quo.

Exhorting upon the 90 percent of people to come out of the mindset of “aadi roti khao, Prabhu ke gunn gao aur bhookhe marr jao”, Gandhi told them to ask themselves as how much wealth and resources of the country they controlled. He observed the moment they start asking such questions themselves, things will automatically change and fall into place.