"Congress' manifesto does not talk about wealth redistribution, snatching of mangalsutra": Shashi Tharoor

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], April 24 : Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said that there has been no mention of the wealth redistribution in his party's manifesto adding that it is a desperate attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party to divert the attention of people as they are aware about their defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.
"Nowhere does it (manifesto) talk about wealth redistribution. Nowhere does it talk about taking anybody's gold and snatching the mangalsutra of women. This is such preposterous attacks that we are seeing from the BJP. It is a measure of their desperation. They know that they are losing this election and they will fling any mud that they can," Tharoor told ANI.
Earlier, Prime Minister Modi last week alleged Congress wants to take away the gold and property of people and distribute it among "those having more children". Referring to reports about Congress's intention to redistribute wealth if elected to power, the Prime Minister said the party would conduct a survey and they would not even let Mangalsutra remain with women and "will go to this extent."
Commenting on the remarks made by the Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress, Sam Pitroda over the concept of inheritance tax law, Tharoor said that one cannot take "anyone's personal opinion and then term it as the Congress party's intention".
"What Sam Pitoda has said is not in the manifesto. We are a democratic party, everyone has a right to their personal opinions. But once the document is approved by the Working Committee, that is all the party is standing behind. So, the party is saying - this is our document, read it.
Tharoor added, "Sam Pitroda is not in the manifesto committee. This is not part of our agenda. It is his personal opinion."
A controversy erupted after Pitroda while emphasising the need for policy toward wealth redistribution spoke about the concept of inheritance tax prevailing in America and said that these are issues that will need to be discussed.
On Kerala Chief Minister calling Rahul Gandhi "a non-serious politician", Shashi Tharoor said, "He is a very serious politician. I would love to see the Kerala Chief Minister try and walk 4200 kms from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir, meeting people on the way, and discussing their issues. That's a serious politician."
Notably, Shashi Tharoor is in the electoral fray against BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar from the Thiruvananthapuram seat in the Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, the CPI has fielded Pannyan Raveendran who was the MP of Thiruvananthapuram between 2005 and 2009.
All 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala will vote in a single phase on April 26. The counting will be held on June 4. Notably, the campaigning for phase 2 of the Lok Sabha polls will end on April 26.