Rahul Gandhi promises minimum income guarantee for poor if voted to power

Gandhi's announcement was an attempt to steal the thunder of Modi government's interim budget, party sources said

Somewhat reminiscent of his grandmother Indira Gandhi’s poll promise of garibi hatao (remove poverty) for the 1971 Lok Sabha elections, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday said, if voted to power, his party would implement a minimum income guarantee (MIG) for the poor.

He made the promise while addressing a public meeting in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur. Party sources said a MIP for the poor, and not universal basic income (UBI), would be their key manifesto promise for the upcoming polls. Details, they said, would be made public in the weeks to come.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram, chairperson of the Congress' manifesto drafting