The Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) will help India's 20 per cent poor people without harming the economy, said Congress president Rahul Gandhi here on Friday.
"Some months back we started a process of trying to figure out how much money we can give to the poor people of the country. I asked P Chidambaram some months back that give me a number and do not give me a long list and a big theory," he said.
"I asked how much money we can give to the poor without harming the economy. The answer was Rs 72,000 per year to 20 per cent of India's poorest families," said Rahul, asserting that Congress manifesto represents the voice of India's people.
Gandhi, who was addressing an election rally, said: "People appreciated our manifesto. In our discussions during the manifesto building process, people told us about NEET. They don't like its imposition on Tamil people. They told us of a young Tamil girl Anitha who committed suicide due to this."
"If you read our manifesto, you will find a line in her memory. The line says--we will not impose NEET on the youngsters of this state. It seems like a small line in the manifesto but it is actually an expression of the people of Tamil Nadu," he said.
He said that the 2109 Lok Sabha elections are a clash between two ideologies.
"The Congress party is in favour of different ideas, different history, perspectives, different languages, different culture should live happily together and all voices must be heard. RSS and BJP say that only one idea should govern India," he said.
All the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu and one seat in Puducherry will go to polls on April 18 during the second phase of seven-phased voting. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.
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