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Dear PM, Please tell Davos why 1% of India has 73% of its wealth: Rahul Gandhi to Modi, BJP's stinging comeback

By FnF Correspondent | PUBLISHED: 24, Jan 2018, 14:17 pm IST | UPDATED: 25, Jan 2018, 10:28 am IST

Dear PM, Please tell Davos why 1% of India has 73% of its wealth: Rahul Gandhi to Modi, BJP's stinging comeback New Delhi: "Dear PM, welcome to Switzerland! Please tell Davos why 1% of India's population gets 73% of its wealth. I'm attaching a report for your ready reference," Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

He was referring to an Oxfam survey, which said 1% of Indians had cornered 73% of the nation's wealth. Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said it was a pity that the PM chose "to speak to the rich about the rich" when the World Economic Forum chief himself spoke about 1% controlling 73% wealth.

"He could not take a cue from the WEF head. It shows that it was a rehearsed speech made just for effect," Sharma said, adding, "It is a matter of serious concern." Upping the ante, the deputy leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha questioned the PM's lecture to the global community about the need to create an inclusive society when "there are deepening divisions in India under Modi's watch".

"Merely quoting Gandhi and Tagore to the world will not bring about the healing touch that India needs. The PM should practice at home what he has preached abroad," Sharma said. The jibe aimed to magnify Modi's participation in a summit that is widely seen as a gathering of big business.

According to international rights group Oxfam which released the annual survey in Davos ahead of the World Economic Forum meeting, the situation was grimmer globally where 82 per cent of the wealth generated last year went to 1 per cent population.

In his speech at the World Economic Forum, PM Modi had also referred to the dangers posed due to inequality, asserting that "the biggest reason for fracture within the countries is inequality and disparity leading to divide and dis-trust".

His government, PM Modi said, was taking steps to bridge the income and opportunity divide by taking various steps. "Personally, I have always said that development process should be inclusive and encompassing," he said, listing some of the steps that his government had taken.

BJP leaders saw the Congress president's tweet as an attempt to slight PM Modi and called Mr Gandhi's post an example of the pot calling the kettle black.

"This inequality is the disastrous consequence of your family's patented Nehru Congress's "Poverty Perpetuation" Model of Governance by which only Congressis became rich," BJP national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao tweeted.

In the last three-and-a-half years, the Modi government has tirelessly worked towards inclusive growth, and taken a number of pro-poor initiatives such as Jan Dhan Yojana and Ujjawala scheme, Mr Rao said.

PM Modi was in Switzerland for a packed 24-hour visit, and a dinner meeting last night, talked about India's growth story and presented investment opportunities to over 40 global industry bosses from 18 countries, including Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Reliance's Mukesh Ambani, Airbus CEO Dirk Hoke.
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