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The Congress on Wednesday asserted that it has no plans to introduce inheritance tax in the country as a row erupted over the remarks by its leader Sam Pitroda, who also later said that his comments on the issue had nothing to with the party policy.

 

Pitroda had spoken about inheritance tax in the US while delving into the issue of redistribution of health. As the BJP latched on it to target the Congress, the opposition party first distanced itself from the remarks of the US-based president of its overseas wing and then launched a counter-offensive claiming it was the Bharatiya Janata Party that wanted to impose an ‘inheritance tax’.

 

It cited the remarks made in the past by some ruling party leaders, including former union minister Jayant Sinha and the party’s social media head Amit Malviya, to buttress its claim.

 

“I would like to categorically state that Congress has no plan on the inheritance tax. (Sam) Pitroda is a very distinguished professional and has made many contributions to the development of India. He expresses his views on the topic he feels strongly about.

 

“He has expressed his views in the American context, which has no relevance for us. He does not speak on behalf of the Congress,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.

 

Ramesh also shared a 15-minute speech by Jayant Sinha at the Forbes India Philanthropy Awards 2013 to claim that he was in favour of an inheritance tax.

 

“The Congress has no plan whatsoever to introduce an inheritance tax. In fact, Rajiv Gandhi abolished Estate Duty in 1985. Please listen to BJP MP Jayant Sinha, once MoS Finance in the Modi Sarkar, and later Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance.

 

“Pitroda ji’s comments are being deliberately sensationalised and presented out of context to divert attention from the malicious and hate-filled election campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” the Congress leader claimed.

 

Ramesh said in a democracy an individual is at liberty to discuss, express, and debate his personal views.

 

Home Minister Amit Shah flayed Pitroda’s remarks, saying “The appeasement politics of the Congress stand exposed today with Sam Pitroda’s statement on wealth redistribution. He reaffirmed the party’s intention to seize the property of the majority and distribute it among the minority.

 

“It yet again brings to the fore that the empowerment of India’s poor, Dalits, youth, tribes, and backward classes was never on Congress’s agenda,” he said on X.