Fifth Column: If Rahul Gandhi believes his NYAY is going to make a difference, he is wrong | The Indian Express

Fifth Column: If Rahul Gandhi believes his NYAY is going to make a difference, he is wrong | The Indian Express

Written by Tavleen Singh |Updated: March 31, 2019 1:20:02 pm

Tavleen Singh, a leading Columnist associated with The Indian Express. Find all Columns from Tavleen Singh here.

Fifth Column: If Rahul Gandhi believes his NYAY is going to make a difference, he is wrong

Taxpayers will pay Rs 3.6 lakh crore extra to support the NYAY scheme that some describe as ‘Gareebi Hatao 2.0’. Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother launched the first version of this scheme in 1971 and won a spectacular victory in the general election that year.

Rahul Gandhi declared that if the Congress is voted to power, every ‘poor’ Indian will get Rs 72,000 a year ‘delivered straight into his bank account’.

When Rahul Gandhi speaks in public, he speaks with a schoolboyish glee that is the exact opposite of gravitas. And, it was in this smug, gleeful way last week that he announced his new scheme that he promised would be the final assault on Indian poverty. He declared that if the Congress is voted to power, every ‘poor’ Indian will get Rs 72,000 a year ‘delivered straight into his bank account’. If Narendra Modi can give rich people money, he clarified, then a Congress government could give money to the poor.