Rahul re-cycling schemes

It looks Rahul Gandhi has proceeded to give a fresh coat of paint to the Congress's decades-old 'Garibi Hatao' slogan less than three weeks before the general election by announcing a guaranteed monthly income of Rs 12,000 for five crore impoverished families in the country.

Terming it to be a "final assault" to eradicate poverty in the country, Rahul described the manifesto as a "historic" and "ground breaking" measure to end poverty.

Whether 'Nyuntam Aay Yojana' (NyAY) or Minimum Income Scheme can be the 'final assault on poverty', as Rahul Gandhi thundered on the TV, one would not know till all its contours are revealed.

Till then, Rahul Gandhi's challenge should be on how to shift gears from a negative campaign against Modi to a positive campaign for his own affirmative agenda.

J Akshay, Bengaluru