Congress may be talking to economists and experts. But is it listening to the voter? | The Indian Express

Congress may be talking to economists and experts. But is it listening to the voter? | The Indian Express

Written by Rama Bijapurkar, Rajesh Shukla |Updated: April 1, 2019 9:48:37 am

Bijapurkar is the author of We Are Like That Only and A Never-before World: Tracking the evolution of Consumer India.

Congress may be talking to economists and experts. But is it listening to the voter?

PM Narendra Modi understands better what people in an aspirational society want. Cash transfers are welcome, but what they desire is ways to earn more and for their children to be a part of the better life possibilities they see around them.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s plan for a “surgical strike on poverty” is built around some key numbers: Rs 12,000, the target minimum monthly income for a household; 5 crore households (amounting to 20 per cent of all Indian households); Rs 6,000, their average monthly earning; and therefore, Rs 6,000, the monthly amount required to be transferred to each. Since his political and financial calculations hinge around these numbers, a fact check is useful, more so because neither he nor the eminent people he consulted have told us where these numbers came from.