BJP opposing inheritance tax because of Adani, Ambani, says Prashant Bhushan

NEW DELHI: Advocate Prashant Bhushan on Friday expressed support for inheritance tax asking Congress to be on the "front foot on Sam Pitroda’s remarks" on the same, adding that every rich country has this tax.

He further said that the BJP government has been opposing this tax "because it is tied to Arabpatis like Adani/Ambani whose children inherit lakhs of crores of their parents".

In a post on X, Prashant Bhushan wrote, "Congress Party should be on the front foot on Sam Pitroda’s remarks on inheritance tax. This tax will be levied only on crorepatis, not on common people. The money would be used for development & funding employment. Every rich country has this tax."

"BJP is opposing this because it is tied to Arabpatis like Adani/Ambani whose children inherit lakhs of crores of their parents", he added.

This comes after Congress distanced itself from Sam Pitroda's remarks on inheritance tax.

Supporting the idea, he had said in an interview, "Nothing wrong in accumulating wealth but to what point? Let me tell you, in America there's an inheritance tax. So, if let's say one has $100 million worth of wealth, and when he dies he can transfer probably 45% to his children, 55% is grabbed by govt."

"If somebody is worth $10 billion and dies his children get $10 billion. The public gets nothing. So these are the kinds of issues that people will have to debate and discuss," he added.

The Congress was quick to distance itself from Pitroda's remarks.

"Sam Pitroda expresses his views on issues that he considers important, very freely. On this particular issue also he is not reflecting the official position of the Congress," Jairam Ramesh said.

Meanwhile, PM Modi has been relentless with his attacks against the Congress over its manifesto promise of a "nation-wide socio-economic and caste census." PM Modi has accused the grand-old party of having "plans to redistribute wealth".