Rajiv scrapped ‘Inheritance Law’ to save his property: PM attacks Cong in MP

Bhopal: During whirlwind election tours to Madhya Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took a dig at Congress claiming that the then PM Rajiv Gandhi had abolished the Inheritance Tax Law (ITL) to save his property after Indira Gandhi’s death.

PM Modi made this remark while addressing an election rally (Vijay Sankalp rally) in Morena Lok Sabha constituency of MP.

He was on a two-day visit to the state for canvassing to his party candidates for the parliamentary polls. During his visit, the PM addressed public rallies in Sagar and Betul constituencies and held a roadshow in the state capital Bhopal.

“When former PM sister Indira Gandhi died, her property was going to get her children but there was a rule earlier enacted during Congress rule that a part of a property used to be taken by the government. To save the property, the then PM Rajiv Gandhi repealed the ITL”, PM Modi claimed at the Morena rally. He said that Congress wanted to impose the ITL again if voted to power.

The ITL introduced through the Estate Duty Act, 1953, existed until 1985 in the country, whose objective was to narrow the income disparity. It was scrapped in 1985 during Rajiv Gandhi’s regime.

The PM claimed that Congress wanted to confiscate people’s jewellery and small savings including even ‘stridhan’ by conducting an X-ray of their properties and valuables.

“If Congress comes to power, it will snatch more than half your earnings through the inheritance tax but Modi is standing as a wall between you and the Congress’ plan to loot you”, PM Modi said.

Accusing the Congress of religious appeasement, PM Modi attacked Congress, saying that they were giving reservations to Muslims cutting quota from the OBCs (Other Backward Classes), SCs and STs.

“These congresspeople are again using religious appeasement as a pawn. The Congress government in Karnataka has declared all the people of the Muslim community as OBCs. It added so many new people into the OBC community that earlier OBCs used to get reservations in education and government jobs. But now, it was secretly snatched away from them.” the PM said.

Modi said that his government never discriminated on religious lines, free ration had been provided to 80 crore people without the religious-based.

“Have you ever heard that someone is not getting a free ration just because he is Muslim?” Modi asked the gathering. w“Will you ensure a total washout of those snatching the rights of OBCs”, the PM further asked.