If voted to power, we will scrap the NITI Aayog: Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on March 29 said if his party is voted to power following the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, it will scrap the NITI Aayog and replace it with a "lean Planning Commission."

"If voted to power, we will scrap the NITI Aayog. It has served no purpose other than making marketing presentations for the PM and fudging data," Rahul tweeted.

"We will replace it with a lean Planning Commission whose members will be renowned economists and experts with less than 100 staff," he added.

This comes after the NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar on March 25 said that Rahul Gandhi has promised scheme of minimum income guarantee without thinking of its impact on the economy. He said that the scheme if implemented will take the country "four steps backward."

Later a show-cause notice was issued to him by the Election Commission. 

READ | 'Nyay' Scheme Poses 'fiscal Challenge' To India's Economy: Former NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya

Recently, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's announcement of a Rs 72,000/year minimum income guarantee promise for the weakest 20% of India's poor families, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley issued a blog post where he argued that the Modi government was already providing more than the Congress was promising, presenting facts and figures of ongoing schemes.

In comparison, Rahul Gandhi's explanation of the 'historic' NYAY income guarantee scheme was sketchy at best, and required a clarification from P Chidambaram who tweeted later to say that it would entail a Rs 6,000 per month direct transfer to eligible families, and not, as Rahul Gandhi had said, a top-up on existing income to bring it to Rs 12,000/month. 

READ | PM Modi Interview | 'For Four Generations They've Been Talking About Poverty,' Says PM Modi On Congress' NYAY Minimum Income Guarantee Scheme, Asking 'who Will Trust Them?'