'Congress is completely exposed, its intention is now clear': Amit Shah on Sam Pitroda's 50% wealth tax idea

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that Sam Pitroda's statement that 50 per cent wealth tax is a fair idea had exposed the Congress clearly. "After Sam Pitroda's remark, Congress party is completely exposed," he said while speaking to the news agency ANI. 

"First of all, mention of 'survey' in their manifesto, Manmohan Singh's old statement which is Congress' legacy - that minorities have the first right over resources of the country, and now Sam Pitroda's remark citing the US that there should be deliberations on the distribution of wealth. Now when PM Modi raised this issue, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and the entire Congress party are on the backfoot that it was never their motive," he said.  

But today, Shah said, Sam Pitroda's statement has made Congress' motive clear before the country. "They want to survey the private property of the people of the country, put it in government property and distribute it as per decision during UPA's regime. Congress should either withdraw it from their manifesto or accept that it is indeed their intention. I want people to take Sam Pitroda's statement seriously. Their intention is now in the open, its cognisance should be taken by people," he said. 

Pitroda, the Chairman of Indian Overseas Congres, in an interview shared today, said that inheritance tax in the US is an interesting law. "In America, there is an inheritance tax. If one has $100 million worth of wealth and when he dies he can only transfer probably 45% to his children, 55% is grabbed by the government. That's an interesting law. It says you in your generation, made wealth and you are leaving now, you must leave your wealth for the public, not all of it, half of it, which to me sounds fair," he said.  

"In India, you don't have that. If somebody is worth 10 billion and he dies, his children get 10 billion and the public gets nothing. So these are the kind of issues people will have to debate and discuss. I don't know what the conclusion would be at the end of the day but when we talk about redistributing wealth, we are talking about new policies and new programs that are in the interest of the people and not in the interest of super-rich only."

Pitroda's remarks triggered a massive uproar, with the BJP saying that Congress has decided to destroy India. However, the Congress clarified saying that Pitroda's comments did not reflect the position of the Indian National Congress.