Rahul Gandhi remark “Poverty is a state of mind” draws criticism across political genre

Allahabad: Speaking at a discourse on ‘Culture, Deepening Democracy and Most Marginalised Communities’, organised by social scientist Badri Narayan Monday Rahul Gandh said, “Poverty is just a state of mind. It does not mean the scarcity of food, money or material things. If one possesses self-confidence, then one can overcome poverty.”

Rahul Gandhi elucidated his argument with the example of  a poor woman in his Lok Sabha constituency Amethi, who, he said, took control of her life, both financially and socially, by getting associated with a self-help group, the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana.

This once, the comment has drawn more attention than his story. And much criticism.

BJP spokesperson in Uttar Pradesh, Vijay Bahadur Pathak, said Mr Gandhi’s statement was arrogant and “mocks the poor.”

The BSP’s Naseemuddin Siddiqui said, “He comes from a billionaire family and many generations in the Gandhi Nehru family have not seen poverty even from a distance. So they cannot be blamed for their poor knowledge.”

Political leaders here said the statement made in Allahabad showed how much the Gandhi scion was cut off from the ground reality.