"Your growth model caters only to select capitalists": Mallikarjun Kharge slams BJP over wealth inequality
Feb 05, 2026
New Delhi [India], February 5 : Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the BJP and the Centre over vast income and wealth inequality in the country, citing the World Inequality Report 2026.
Sharing an excerpt from his address in the Upper House during the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address on X, Kharge alleged that the BJP-RSS growth model caters only to select capitalists.
The Congress chief said, "RSS-BJP has never truly cared about equality. Their mindset is to make the rich even richer and the poor even poorer. According to the World Inequality Report 2026, in India, nearly 40 per cent of the country's total wealth is concentrated in the hands of the top 1 per cent, while the top 10 per cent own two-thirds, that is 65 per cent, of household assets. On the income front as well, the top 10 per cent alone capture 58 per cent of the national income, leaving just 15 per cent for the bottom 50 per cent."
"Your growth model caters only to your favourite, select capitalists. You couldn't care less about the struggles of the working people. This is your vision of a developed India," he added.
The World Inequality Report 2026 is published by the global think tank World Inequality Lab.
In the Upper House, the BJP MP Sadananad Master moved the motion of thanks. The motion comes in response to President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of both Houses to mark the beginning of the Budget Session on January 28.
Meanwhile, both Houses of Parliament are scheduled to resume discussion of the motion 'Thanks to the President's Address' during the ongoing Budget Session on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address on Wednesday; instead, after repeated disruptions and sloganeering by the Opposition members, the Speaker adjourned the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister is likely to reply in the Rajya Sabha on the motion of thanks today as the discussion continues.
