Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today said her father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, had inherited not wealth but martyrdom from his mother. “This is a feeling that Narendra Modi would never understand,” she said, ripping off the Prime Minister's comments on dynastic politics and inheritance tax.
Prime Minister Modi had said last week that Rajiv Gandhi had abolished inheritance tax after coming to power so that the wealth he inherited from his mother would not be taxed.
Today, addressing a rally in Morena, Madhya Pradesh, Mrs. Gandhi Vadra said, “When Modi-ji stands on stage and calls my father a traitor, when he says he changed a law to take his inheritance from his mother… .he would not understand that my father did not acquire wealth through inheritance, he only had thoughts of martyrdom.”
“When I brought home my father's mutilated remains at the age of 19, I was angry with this country. I thought, 'I sent my father. It was your job to ensure his safety. I placed him under your care.” , but you returned his remains to me wrapped in the national flag.” I had my doubts. I know what the meaning of martyrdom is.
She said when 40 soldiers died in Pulwama in 2019, she had visited some of their families in Uttar Pradesh. There the children of the martyrs told her that they wanted to join the army. “There was a girl whose brother was in the Air Force. She said, 'Didi, I want to join the Air Force and become a pilot,'” said Mrs. Gandhi Vadra.
“This is the feeling of martyrdom. Modi-ji will never understand this. Modi-ji says whatever he wants about a martyr like Indira-ji. He only sees dynastic politics, he never sees patriotism, service to the nation. He would never Understand this,” she added.
At a meeting in Morena last week, Prime Minister Modi had said that earlier, half of the wealth of a deceased person went to the government under the law. “There was talk then that Indira-ji had willed her wealth in the name of her son Rajiv Gandhi. To prevent the money from going to the government (after her death), Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi abolished inheritance tax,” he said, wading into the discussion. Congress on wealth redistribution and inheritance taxes.
After benefiting from the elimination of the estate tax, Congress now wants to bring back the levy, he said.