Kejriwal Writes to PM Modi Again, Makes Big Demand for Middle Class

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Aam Aadmi Party's national convener Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing the central government of neglecting the middle class while waiving off loans of billionaires, which is depleting the government’s treasury. Kejriwal mentioned that he has written to the Prime Minister on a critical issue, claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party government is freely spending public funds on a few rich billionaires. The government provides loans to these billionaires and later waives them off, transferring the public money into the pockets of the rich.

Kejriwal further alleged that in the past five years, the central government has waived off loans worth around ₹10 lakh crore for 400-500 billionaires. He said that while the middle class struggles with inflation and unemployment, the government has opened its treasury for these billionaires. He gave examples of recent cases where one individual had ₹47,000 crore in loans, out of which ₹46,000 crore was waived off. Similarly, a billionaire had ₹6,500 crore in loans, of which ₹5,000 crore was waived off. Kejriwal compared this with the ₹400 crore spent on free bus rides for women in Delhi, pointing out that while this initiative cost the government ₹400 crore, they spent ₹46,000 crore on one individual.

Kejriwal also pointed out that a person earning ₹12 lakh annually ends up paying various taxes like income tax, GST, service tax, property tax, education tax, capital gains tax, and road tax. When all these taxes are combined, the middle-class person ends up paying at least ₹6 lakh of their income in taxes, with nothing in return. Through his letter, Kejriwal made two significant demands to Prime Minister Modi. The first is that no billionaire’s loan should be waived in the country, and a law should be created to ensure this. He said that if loans need to be waived, the middle class should be the beneficiary. He suggested that the government should waive the loans of middle-class people who earn ₹1 lakh per month and spend ₹60,000-70,000 on EMIs for home loans or vehicle loans. Additionally, Kejriwal proposed that if the help provided to billionaires is stopped and their loans are no longer waived, income tax rates could be halved. He also mentioned that GST could be removed, and essential items like food and groceries could be exempt from GST.