"When Indira Gandhi Died...": PM On Why Rajiv Gandhi Ended Inheritance Tax

Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi abolished the inheritance tax after his mother Indira Gandhi's death in 1984 to save her wealth from going to the government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, alleging that the Congress now wants to bring back the levy.

As the high-decibel canvassing for Lok Sabha polls sent political temperatures soaring, the BJP's star campaigner doubled down on his wealth redistribution and inheritance tax charge at the Congress and vowed to protect people's wealth from what he called the rival party's plans to loot them.

Addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Morena, where voting will take place on May 7, PM Modi escalated his attack on the Congress and accused it of "cutting off the country's hands" by accepting Partition on the basis of religion.

Rajiv Gandhi abolished the inheritance tax, a levy imposed on inherited movable and immovable assets, in 1985 after his mother Indira Gandhi's death to save her wealth from going to the government, PM Modi said.

"Note the sins the Congress has committed. I want to put forth an interesting fact. When Indira Gandhi passed away, there was a law by virtue of which half the wealth would go to the government. There were talks that Indira ji had willed her wealth to her son Rajiv Gandhi," PM Modi said.

"To save the money from going to the government, Rajiv Gandhi abolished the inheritance tax," the PM said.

If the main Opposition party comes to power, it will snatch more than half of people's earnings through inheritance tax, the PM warned voters, latching onto the controversial remarks made by US-based senior Congress leader Sam Pitroda.

A day after Rahul Gandhi's remark that those who call themselves "deshbhakt (patriots)" are scared of a caste census, PM Modi said the Congress wants to confiscate people's jewellery and small savings by conducting an X-ray of their properties and valuables.

An adviser to the Opposition's 'shehzada' - a referrence to Rahul Gandhi - has now suggested imposition of an inheritance tax, he said.

The Congress wants to bring back the tax now that its four generations have reaped the benefits of the wealth that was passed on to them, he said.

But the BJP will not allow such designs to succeed, the PM assured the crowd. "The wealth that you have accumulated by working hard and enduring hardships will be looted from you once a Congress-led government is formed," he said.

"Modi with his 56-inch chest is standing as a wall between you and the Congress' plan to loot you. That is why Congress leaders and the Opposition abuse me so much," he said.

He accused the Congress of accepting Partition of the country on religious lines.

"Instead of unshackling the hands of 'Maa Bharti', the Congress cut off her hands and divided the country," he alleged.

The Congress wants to snatch reservation of SCs/STs/OBCs for the sake of its Muslim vote-bank and is bent on grabbing power with religious appeasement, he said.

"The Congress says Muslims have the first right on the country's resources, while I say the poor have the first right on them," he emphasised.

Calling himself as 'kaamdar (working class)' and Rahul Gandhi as 'naamdar (dynast)', the PM said, "Nowadays, the shehzada of the Congress is enjoying abusing Modi. We are there to listen to the abuses from the 'naamdaars' but I will continue serving the people and 'Maa Bharti."

The Congress has been hatching a conspiracy to deprive tribals and backward classes of their rights, he said.

"Will you ensure a total washout of those snatching the rights of backward classes?" he asked.

The BJP government has been providing free ration to 80 crore people without any discrimination, he said. "Have you ever heard someone is not getting free ration because he is a Muslim?" he asked.

When the Constitution was drafted, it was decided reservation in jobs and education won't be given on religious lines. BR Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution, was against quota on religious lines, but the Congress gave it through the backdoor and "stabbed" him in the back, he alleged.

Further targeting the Congress, PM Modi said it has clandestinely put many Muslims illegally in the OBC category in Karnataka, where the party is in power.

Providing reservation to Muslims was unlawful and against the Constitution, he said.

The Congress manifesto talks about religion-based quota in jobs and education and the document is is influenced by pro-Partition Muslim League, Modi alleged.

When a Congress-led government was formed at the Centre, it first introduced religion-based quota in Andhra Pradesh, PM Modi said, adding that the party "wants to implement this model (of reservation) throughout the country."

"On December 19, 2011, the Congress brought a note in the Cabinet on religion basis. The note said a portion of 27% reservation given to OBCs should be cut out and given on religious lines," he stressed.

"The Congress, by snatching the rights of OBCs, wants to give reservation to strengthen its favourite vote-bank," he claimed.