Rahul Gandhi's U-turn on poverty eradication remark: 'Can make strong efforts'

Rahul Gandhi’s U-turn on poverty eradication remark: ‘Can make strong efforts’

Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his promise to eradicate poverty in a single stroke, the Wayanad MP on Wednesday clarified his remarks. Gandhi said he wasn’t proposing to eliminate poverty all at once, but rather called for efforts toward that goal.

“No one is saying poverty will be ended in one go, but we can make strong efforts for it,” the Congress leader said in a press briefing.

Gandhi, at a recent poll rally in Rajasthan, said that if the Congress comes to power at the Centre, it would ensure that “poverty is erased in one stroke”.

“If you are below the poverty line, then every year Rs 1 lakh khatakhat khatakhat aata rahega aur ek jhatke se hum Hindustan se garibi ko mita denge (the amount will keep coming and with one stroke we will remove poverty from India),” he said.Â

Targeting Gandhi, PM Modi on Sunday, called the Congress MP a “shahi jaadugar” (royal magician), who stunned the country with his one-stroke poverty removal remark.

He added that “Congress ke shehzade” (prince of Congress) “surprised the whole country when he announced that he would remove poverty in one stroke”.

The Congress manifesto promises that the party would ensure that women belonging to poor households would get Rs 1 lakh per year under the Mahalakshmi scheme. The first phase of the seven-stage Lok Sabha elections is set to begin on April 19.

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