A file photo of senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

The Congress on April 23 said that it would move the Supreme Court if the Election Commission (EC) did not decide on its complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for suggesting that the Congress would redistribute the country’s wealth to Muslims if it came to power.

The Prime Minister had made the remark at a rally in Rajasthan’ Banswara on Sunday, following which, the Congress, on Monday, moved the EC, seeking action against Mr Modi. In its official representation to the EC, the Congress alleged that the Prime Minister had invoked religion and religious symbols to create enmity between groups.

“A no decision by the EC is certainly actionable and justiceable. It can be and shall be challenged. In 2019, I had led a delegation to the poll panel to complain against the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. Ultimately, the absence of any decision by the EC either way led me to approach the Supreme Court,” Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi told The Hindu.

“Time is of the essence here since the model code of conduct and the electoral window is very short. We shall do the same if the EC doesn’t decide. At the moment, what the decision will be is not so important but they [EC] must take a decision,” he added.

Also read: PM has new tactics for diverting attention from real issues: Rahul Gandhi on Modi’s ‘redistribution of wealth’ remarks

On Tuesday, Praveen Chakravarty, head of the All India Professional Congress, also complained to the EC about a fake WhatsApp message that claimed the Congress would “confiscate two-third of your assets for the redistribution to the poor under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Redistribution Scheme”.

“I urge you to initiate appropriate action and stop the spread of such malicious rumours,” he wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner, adding that a police complaint was being filed under the relevant provisions of the criminal laws.

‘Will bridge the divide’

Hitting back at the Prime Minister for his remarks, the Congress on Tuesday also claimed that 40% of the wealth created in the country between 2012 and 2021 had gone to just 1% of the population.

Taking to social media platform X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh asserted that only an INDIA bloc government can deliver a more inclusive economic growth.

Also read: We will put as much money in the hands of people as the Modi government has given to billionaires, says Rahul in Rajasthan

“The Prime Minister will never tell you that: More than 40% of the wealth created in the country from 2012 to 2021 has gone to just 1% of the population.”

Approximately 64% of the total Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the country came from the poor, the lower middle classes, and the middle classes, Mr. Ramesh added.

“Most of the public assets and resources sold in the last 10 years have gone to one or two companies – economists have shown that the growing monopolisation of the economy has led to higher inflation,” the Congress leader alleged, adding that 21 billionaires combined have more wealth than 70 crore Indians.

“India needs faster economic growth. India needs vastly more inclusive economic growth. India needs hugely more ecologically sustainable growth. Only INDIA can and will deliver this triad,” Mr. Ramesh asserted.

Since the Prime Minister’s Rajasthan rally, the Congress stepped up its attack on Mr. Modi and claimed it displayed his “anti-poor” mindset.

“You [Mr. Modi] put all your effort into lying, conspiring against the poor, misleading them about Congress’s welfare schemes but we will ensure that the dreadful economic inequality will be addressed with the right policies,” Supriya Shrinate, head of Congress social media department, said in a video statement.

“We will bridge the divide between the rich and the poor without taking anyone’s property, without reducing anyone’s income or snatching anyone’s jewellery,” she added.