False Claims About ‘Wealth Redistribution’ by Congress Shared on Social Media

The Congress moved a complain to the Election Commission about the false claims about the survey.

At a recent rally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that the Congress party attempted to expand reservation based on religion to benefit Muslims, and reiterated his accusation that the party is involved in a significant plot to seize people's assets and allocate them to a 'specific group.'

Following this statement, a social media post went viral, claiming that Congress will confiscate two-thirds of people's assets for redistribution to the poor under the "Jawaharlal Nehru National Wealth Redistribution Scheme."

• Along with the claim, users attached a screenshot of an article written by author Monika Halan titled, "Questions to the Congress on Wealth Redistribution," which was published in the Hindustan Times.

This post recorded 25.8K views at the time of writing this story. (Archives of similar claims can be found here, here and here.)

We received a query about this on our WhatsApp tipline, as well.

Is this true?: The claim is false.

• No such scheme is mentioned in the Congress manifesto. Even the HT article does not mention two-thirds of assets being redistributed or the name of the scheme.

• Senior leader Rahul Gandhi spoke about a financial survey that the party would conduct following a caste census to know how much wealth everyone owns in the country.

How did we find out?: First, we went through the HT article that was shared along with the viral claim.

The article was an opinion piece which raised a few questions about the implementation and details of wealth redistribution. The following arguments were raised in Halan's article:

• Will the redistribution that will be considered in the survey be of income or wealth?

• If it is a wealth redistribution, then will it be all assets or just financial assets?

• If so, will this survey extend to all communities, or will the minorities get an exemption from their land and other assets being mapped?

• Will the assets of all sections of the population be up for redistribution?

• Will assets such as residential real estate be a part of the redistribution?

• Will this be a one-time exercise or one that repeats periodically?

Nowhere does the article talk about a 'Jawaharlal Nehru National Wealth Redistribution Scheme' or two-thirds of assets being confiscated.

The article also mentioned that during a political rally, Rahul Gandhi, reportedly stated that a financial and institutional survey would be carried out after a caste census, according to reports. Subsequently, India’s wealth would be distributed based on the population share, noted Halan.

• We ran a keyword search to look for Gandhi's remarks on this and came across a video on his YouTube channel from 6 April.

• The speech was from the launch of the Congress manifesto in Hyderabad, Telangana.

• At 31:29 minutes, he speaks about a caste census and a financial and institutional survey.

We promise that once our party comes to power, what we did in Telangana, a caste-based census will take place in the entire country. We will do an 'X-ray' of the country. Scheduled castes and tribes, other backward classes, poor people of the general category and minorities will know how much of a participant they are in the country. After this, we will do a financial and institutional survey to know how much each category owns in the country. After this historic step, we will take up the revolutionary work of giving you what you deserve.

Congress leader and Wayanad MP, Rahul Gandhi

In his speech, Rahul Gandhi did not call it the "Jawaharlal Nehru National Wealth Redistribution Scheme" or mentioned about confiscating two-thirds of people's assets for redistribution.

What does the Congress manifesto say?: We went through the manifesto and searched for any scheme or program that would suggest what has been claimed in the viral post, however, no scheme or confiscation of assets has been noted in the document, as claimed.

Some points in the document shed light on the said financial survey and wealth inequality:

• In its 'equity' section, the party notes that it will "conduct a nation-wide Socio-Economic and Caste Census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions. Based on the data, we will strengthen the agenda for affirmative action" (sic.)

• In the economic policy section of the document, the party noted that it will address the growing inequality of wealth and income through suitable changes in policies. (sic)

Team WebQoof has fact-checked a similar claim on wealth redistribution when PM Modi hit out at the Congress manifesto during a rally. You can read our story here.

Congress files complain to EC on 'misinformation' against their manifesto: The Congress filed a complaint with the Election Commission against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), requesting action against the party for purportedly spreading misinformation about their manifesto, as reported by HT and PTI.

• Praveen Chakravarty, the head of the All India Professionals' Congress, also complained about an individual who shared a message on WhatsApp, falsely claiming that the Congress party manifesto includes a promise to confiscate two-thirds of individuals' assets for redistribution to the poor under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Wealth Redistribution Scheme.

• He also cited an article in a prominent newspaper as the foundation for such 'false information'.

• The article also mentioned that many BJP leaders, including PM Modi, have alleged that the Congress is planning to seize assets from people and redistribute them. This was causing distress among working people and the middle class about Rahul Gandhi's statements on equitable societal progress.

Conclusion: Nowhere does the manifesto mention about a Jawaharlal Nehru National Wealth Redistribution Scheme or confiscation of assets, hence, the viral claim is false.

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