'NYAY to be surgical strike against poverty', says Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that a "surgical strike" against poverty will be carried out through minimum income guarantee "nyuntam aay yojana (NYAY)" promised by him if his party is voted to power at the Centre.

"In the 21st century, India will define a 'minimum income line' and no one should live below this line. With this intention, we came up with NYAY. It will be a 'surgical strike' against poverty in the country. If the Narendra Modi government can give money to the rich, we can do it for the poor. 20 per cent of the poorest families of the country will be entitled to up to Rs 72,000 per year," he said at a rally here.

Accusing BJP of adopting an anti-poor approach, Gandhi said that the ruling party at the Centre wanted to "destroy the poor", while Congress wants to "destroy poverty".

"I guarantee you that through NYAY scheme, I will bring justice to the poor and give them their due. I will make sure that every poor family has the money in the bank account. BJP wants to destroy the poor, Congress wants to destroy poverty," he said.

On Monday, while describing NYAY as unique in the entire world, Gandhi had told reporters in Delhi that it will be implemented in a phased manner as part of the "final assault on poverty", if Congress is elected to power.

Accusing the Prime Minister of not fulfilling the promises he made during the 2014 election campaign, the Gandhi scion said, "In the last 5 years, Narendra Modi has opposed and weakened all the schemes that helped the poor. He referred to MNREGA as 'digging pits'. He doesn't understand that these pro-poor schemes lifted 14 crore people out of poverty."

"Those who were lifted out of poverty during the tenure of Congress government, have been made poor again by the Modi government. This happened due to demonetisation and the 'Gabbar Singh Tax'. Unemployment is at a 45-year high. The Modi government has increased the unemployment rate," he said.

Firing a fresh salvo at BJP over demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST), Gandhi said, "Narendra Modi had stated that he will fight against black money. All of us were there standing in queues outside the banks. But where were those who had accumulated black money? Were Nirav Modi, Anil Ambani, Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya standing in queues? BJP took all of your money, turned it into white and gave it to these people, who fled the country."

"The small and medium businesses still do not know what is the GST structure about. Narendra Modi said one-tax system, but five-tax system came," he said.

The Congress president went on to say that if his party comes to power, then it would simplify the tax structure of the GST.