“Have you seen Ambani’s wedding? He spent crores on it. Whose money is this? It is your money.”
In a fiery campaign address at a public rally in Haryana, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi upped the ante against Prime Minister Narendra Modi by casting doubt on the economic disparities and diversion of public funds. As he campaigned for the upcoming state elections, Gandhi delivered a speech relishing the lavish wedding of Mukesh Ambani and his son, Anant Ambani. He further questioned the source of expenditure on this magnitude, asking, “Have you seen the Ambani wedding? Crores were spent. Whose money is this? It is your money.”
Gandhi’s remarks highlighted the deep economic divide between the super-wealthy in India and average laymen, particularly farmers. At the same time, a few billionaires like the Ambani family may want to indulge in excessive spending on weddings, and ordinary citizens are sinking deeper into debt. “You raise loans from banks just to get your children married, but by making this system, Prime Minister Modi allows only 25 people to spend lavishly, while a farmer’s son is left to pass through debt for marriage,” he added.
The Congress chief cited this case as a more significant indictment against the Modi regime for what he alleged were policies that sought to favour the rich at the expense of the poor. He said Modi’s policies have created an economy where the rich easily avoid accountability while the ordinary mortal bears the burden of debt and poverty. By raising questions about the integrity of the financial machinery that enables such generosity on the part of industrialists, he insinuated that public taxes were, by extension, sponsoring the extravagance of India’s most prosperous.
Beyond raising the issue of economic disparity, Gandhi also took a swipe at the Agniveer scheme decried by the BJP government, which has done away with the rights and benefits and severely curtailed the advantages hitherto enjoyed by Indian soldiers. “Do you know what the Agniveer scheme is? It’s the way to take away a pension, canteen access and martyr status from our Indian soldiers,” said Gandhi, casting the Modi government as indeed acting against India’s common defence and privatising services in favour of corporate greed and interests.
He enailed criticism against the Modi government and made various electoral promises. In his speech, he assigned financial aid of ₹2,000 per month to women in Haryana and thereby committed to bringing down the price of gas cylinders so that the price is limited to ₹500 if elected into power again. Also, promising to implement a Minimum Support Price (MSP), said the promise, aimed at fulfilling the long-sustained demands of the state’s farming community for financial assistance.
Nearer to these elections, Gandhi’s speeches focused more on economic inequality, emphasizing the dichotomy between the elite and the common man. He formed part of Congress’s strategy in which the Ambani wedding represented that disparity, praising it in one such utterance and creating a larger narrative around the Congress being a party that fights for social justice and economic inequity.
Gandhi’s critique of Modi’s government and its alleged favouritism towards the rich has struck a chord with many voters, particularly in rural areas, where economic distress and debt remain pressing concerns.
