The wild card entry in 2024 Elections: Sam Pitroda strikes again for the congress camp

Sam Pitroda, chairperson of the Indian Overseas Congress, stated that inheritance tax, as it was implemented in the US, is a "interesting idea" amid a political debate regarding Congress's "wealth redistribution" poll pledge. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chastised Pitroda, though, while the Congress disassociated itself from his remarks. Notably, Sam pitroda once a close aide of Rajiv Gandhi and now a close confidant of Rahul Gandhi is quite famous for making controversial statements.

The controversy over Sam Pitroda’s remarks started after a video of him went viral early on Wednesday morning in which he was seen advocating the inheritance tax for India claiming that the united sates follows it from years. Talking about the inheritance tax in the video, Pitroda said, "If one has $100 million worth of wealth and when he dies he can only transfer probably 45 per cent to his children, 55 per cent 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 further added, “In India, we do not have such provisions. If an individual is worth 10 billion and passes away, their children inherit the entire sum, leaving nothing for the public... These are the discussions and debates that people will need to engage in”. Pitroda further added, “The Congress party would frame a policy through which the wealth distribution would be better. We don't have a minimum wage in India. If we come up with a minimum wage in the country saying you must pay so much money to the poor, that's the distribution of wealth”.

Talking about PM Modi’s criticism of congress wealth redistribution scheme, pitroda said, "It's naive to think like that... I have some concerns about his brain.” Pitroda didn’t stop there and went ahead saying, “ The Congress party would frame a policy through which the wealth distribution would be better. We don't have a minimum wage in India. If we come up with a minimum wage in the country saying you must pay so much money to the poor, that's the distribution of wealth. Today, rich people don't pay their peons, servants, and home help enough, but they spend that money on vacation in Dubai and London... When you talk about the distribution of wealth, it is not that you sit on a chair and say I have this much money, and I'll be distributing it to everybody”.

While, the video of pitroda advocating for inheritance tax went viral, the gleeful BJP attacked Pitroda and Congress party with all guns blazing. Pitroda's comments were criticized by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who demanded that the Congress back out of the election manifesto's pledge to conduct a financial survey. “The entire Congress has been exposed due to Sam Pitoda's statement. When PM Modi raised the issue, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi went on the backfoot. I hope Congress will withdraw this thing from its manifesto," Shah said. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how sam Pitroda’s remarks will impact the electoral fate of congress, currently, hits comments seems backfiring towards congress.