'Can make strong efforts': Rahul Gandhi clarifies his poverty eradication remark

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday clarified his promise to eradicate poverty in a single stroke, saying that he wasn’t proposing to eliminate poverty all at once but rather called for efforts toward that goal.

Read here: ‘PM Modi an instrument of 5-6 big rich businessmen’: Rahul Gandhi in Kerala

While addressing a joint press conference with Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad, the former Congress chief said, “Poverty cannot be eradicated in one go, but it can be dealt a severe blow. A major reason for poverty in the country is that Narendra Modi has given all the wealth of the country to a few selected people.”

His remarks came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at Wayanad MP over his poll claim of eradicating poverty in a single stroke, saying where this royal magician was hiding when his party was in government for so many years.

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

“Desperate Congress is making such announcements which the Congress leaders themselves are not understanding. The prince of Congress has just announced something that will make you laugh. He announced that he would eliminate poverty from the country in one stroke. After all, where was this royal magician hiding for so many years? It has been 50 years since his grandmother announced to removal of poverty from the country.” he said while addressing a rally last week.

The Congress manifesto promised that the party would ensure that women belonging to poor households would get ₹1 lakh per year under the Mahalakshmi scheme.

While highlighting the poll promises, he said, “The Congress Government will transfer ₹1 lakh (in a year) to the bank account of one woman of every poor household in the country…If you are below the poverty line then every year, ₹1 lakh ( ₹8,500 per month) khatakhat khatakhat aata rahega aur ek jhatke se hum Hindustan se gareebi ko mita denge.”

Elections 2024:

The elections for the 543 parliamentary constituencies will be held in seven phases, starting on April 19 and culminating on June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4. The phase 1 polling will be held on April 19, the second phase on April 26, third phase on May 7, fourth phase on May 13, fifth phase on May 20, sixth phase on May 25 and the last and the seventh phase on June 1.

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