'Have not said...': Rahul Gandhi's clarification amid wealth redistribution row

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

Amid the ongoing row over Rahul Gandhi's "wealth survey" remark, the Congress leader said he only wanted to find out the amount of injustice done in the country.

“I have not said we will take action yet. I am just saying let’s find out how much injustice has been done,” Gandhi said. He was speaking at the ‘Samajik Nyay Sammelan’ in New Delhi.

Explaining the party's stance on caste census, Gandhi said that he is "not interested in caste but in 'nyay' (justice)". He said it is his his life mission to ensure justice for the 90 per cent of the population against whom injustice has been done.

"As soon as our government is formed, the first thing that would be done is a caste census," Gandhi said.

From the Rs 16 lakh crore transferred by Modi to select business people, the Congress is going to return a small amount to 90 per cent of the population, Rahul Gandhi said. "We have calculated...what we felt is justice and that help should be given, we put it down in the manifesto," he said of the party's guarantees mentioned in the manifesto.

Recently, Rahul Gandhi said at an election rally in Hyderabad on April 7 that Congress will conduct a nationwide survey if voted to power to ensure that money is distributed to various sections of the society as per their population.

"First, we will conduct a caste census to know the exact population and status of backward castes, SCs, STs, minorities and other castes. After that, the financial and institutional survey will begin. Subsequently, we will take up the historic assignment to distribute the wealth of India, jobs and other welfare schemes to these sections based on their population," the Congress leader said.

Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested that if the Congress comes to power, it would redistribute wealth of people to Muslims and cited former PM Manmohan Singh's remark that the minority community had the first claim on the country's resources.

"This urban-naxal mindset, my mothers and sisters, they will not even leave your 'Mangalsutra'. They can go to that level," Modi said addressing a rally in Rajasthan's Banswara.

(With inputs from PTI)