As the battle of the ballot heats up, political rhetoric around the “wealth redistribution” comment by the Congress party’s Rahul Gandhi is rising. At a rally in Hyderabad in the first week of April, Gandhi had said: “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 political firestorm that erupted is still raging. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quick to launch a broadside.
"The Congress shahzade (prince) says if his government comes, they will investigate who earns how much and how much property they have. Not only this, he further says the government will take over the property and redistribute it. This is what their election manifesto is saying," Modi said at a rally, the prince reference being Gandhi.
What does the Congress manifesto say?
Here are some excerpts from the document on inequality, the context in which Gandhi made the remark.
The manifesto states:
Congress will conduct a nation-wide Socio-Economic and Caste Census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions. Based on the data, we will strengthen the agenda for affirmative action.
The Congress guarantees that it will pass a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC.
The reservation of 10 per cent in jobs and educational institutions for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) will be implemented for all castes and communities without discrimination.
Expanding on the “wealth redistribution” comment and the Congress manifesto, Praveen Chakravarty, chairman, Professional’ Congress, an arm of the Indian National Congress, and one of the key architects of the manifesto, says “jitni abadi utna haq” is not a new idea, the phrase, roughly translating into rights of any group are proportionate to its population share, having been used by Gandhi in 2022.
“This is not the first time that he has said jitni abadi utna haq. He said that in his first yatra. To say that this is a new idea concocted for the manifesto is untrue,” Chakravarty told Moneycontrol.
The idea has a background and context, he added. “Other Backward Castes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes constitute nearly 70-80 percent of India’s population. Why is it that their representation in the upper echelons of society is less than 10 percent?” he asked.
“Why is it that 94 percent of senior officers in the government are upper caste while 80 percent of the MGNREGA (referring to the job guarantee scheme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) labourers are OBC/SC/ST? These are legitimate questions that any society should confront and answer. Rahul Gandhi’s jitni abadi utna haq call raises this question while his demand for a caste census is an attempt to find the answer,” he stressed.
When asked about the wealth redistribution comment and what exactly it implies against the social and economic background, Chakravarty explained that wealth needs to be thought of in the broader context of budget and resources. “Isn’t reservation, wealth?” he asked.
“It’s only for the elite in Delhi where wealth redistribution means I am coming to your home and taking your Rolex watches... No way does it mean that we will come into your home and take away your Rolex watches. The solution is to create certain policies. No way does it mean that we will come into your home and take away your belongings.. Under what law in the Constitution can someone take away wealth like that?” he added.
“I know every line in the 45 pages of the manifesto. Nowhere does it say that we will redistribute wealth. Economic inequality is a problem and we have to address that,” Chakravarty underlined.
On affirmative action and reservations promised in the manifesto, Chakravarty clarified, “It implies reorienting the capital labour balance, moving from production-linked incentives to employment-linked incentives.”
“If there is one time that the private wealth of Individuals has been taken away in contemporary India in the last 40 years, it was on November 8, 2016,” he emphasised, referring to demonetisation.
As told to Shweta Punj
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