EC notice to Rajiv Kumar over comments targeting Congress: NITI Aayog vice-chairman seeks time till 5 April to respond

New Delhi: Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar has sought time till 5 April from the Election Commission to respond to a show-cause notice issued to him for his remarks against the Congress over its minimum income guarantee promise. [caption id=“attachment_4214529” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Rajiv Kumar, vice chairman, NITI Aayog. PIB.[/caption] Kumar was to respond by Thursday evening. Kumar had accused the Congress of promising the “moon to win elections”. He had also tweeted, saying “the proposed income guarantee scheme fails the economics test, fiscal discipline test and execution test”. In another tweet, Kumar had claimed that “true to its past record of promising the moon to win elections, Congress President announces a scheme that will bust fiscal discipline, create strong incentives against work and which will never be implemented”. Kumar is reported to have made similar remarks during an interview as well. At a press conference on Monday, Rahul Gandhi announced that 20 percent families belonging to the poorest category will be given Rs 72,000 each annually as minimum income if Congress comes to power. When the notice was issued to Kumar, sources in the poll panel had said since he is a bureaucrat, he should not have made political comments targeting a party.