Recent statements by senior members of the Congress party, including former President Rahul Gandhi, have put the spotlight on the problem of inequality in India. Since the claim that inequality has worsened in India in the last decade—also the tenure of the two-term incumbent National Democratic Alliance—has in the middle of a very contentious general election campaign, the comments have turned controversial and acrimonious.
The resulting noise has turned this into a political slug fest instead of a healthy debate. To be sure, neither is this the first time that the problem of inequality is being flagged, nor is this challenge unique to India.
The question is whether the claim of the Congress party is true? To do this fact check StratNews Global spoke to Rajesh Shukla, CEO, PRICE or People Research on the Indian Consumer Economy.
Anil Padmanabhan has been a journalist for the last 36 years. He has worked in various capacities in several publications including Afternoon Despatch & Courier, Press Trust of India, Business Standard, Mint and was based in New York for India Today. He was a Nieman Fellow in 2001. He tweets at @capitalcalculus.
